Serpent Meets Fire
by FirebornSlytherin
Summary: Athenys Seraphina always knew there was something different about her. Not only does she have magic, but she has a close connection to dragons. And there's one name that keeps coming up all the time. Targaryen. Her life at Hogwarts with her fellow Slytherins proves to be a fiery and exciting adventure, which helps Athenys slowly realise the true extent of her powers.
1. Athenys

***Disclaimer* I do not own the story Harry Potter. All credits for writing the Harry Potter series goes to the amazing J.K Rowling. This story combines the Harry Potter world with references to the Game of Thrones world, which I also do not own. However, the main character Athenys Seraphina and the plot line is my creation. Also, this is my first time writing a fanfiction, so I apologize for any mistakes along the way.**

Athenys Seraphina had finally learned to ignore the taunts of her name from her classmates by the time she was nine years old. It didn't make sense to her why she should be offended any more, seeing that she was quite fond of her name. Nevertheless, she had always found ways to get back at them. There would be some days where her classmates would scream, suspiciously finding a dead spider in their bags, or finding cockroaches in their lunches. However, no one knew how it had happened, and Athenys would make sure of that, although there were some things that happened that even Athenys couldn't quite explain. Whenever the taunts had happened and she would return home with a disgruntled expression, her mother Helena had always reminded her what her name truly means, which every single time made her puff out her chest in pride.

" _Athena is the Greek Goddess of Wisdom and War," she would whisper as she tucked a strand of Athenys's hair behind her ear, "She was known for her compassion and generosity."_

 _Helena could always see her face light up every time she said that, eagerly waiting for her to continue telling the legends of the heroes and Gods, followed by stories of King Arthur and Merlin and many other legendary tales._

 _One day Athenys came home, and Helena watched as the young girl's sapphire blue eyes which were filled with curiosity flicker towards the fireplace. Athenys looked very much like her mother, dark olive skin, medium-length black wavy hair and a heart-shaped face with rather sharp features, although her cheeks were a little chubbier. All the same except for her eyes. Helena wonders if Athenys ever knew about slightest shade of violet which flashed in her eyes whenever she was in deep thought. It reminds Helena of Athenys's father every time, and leaves a painful ache in her throat. Helena had assumed she was thinking about a school quiz, after all for an 8-year-old, Athenys was quite dedicated to her schoolwork. The question her daughter asked her next proved otherwise._

" _Mum, where's dad?"_

 _She always asked this question whenever the schoolyard bullying went too far. Helena gave her the look she always gives whenever she is asked this question and turned back to the kitchen, and Athenys fell quiet for a few seconds, until…_

" _What was his name?"_

 _Now there was a question she had never been asked before. Helena straightens her back and faces her daughter, "Why do you ask that, honey?"_

" _You're the one who told me not to answer a question with another question, Mum."_

 _Huh, Clever girl._

 _A few minutes of silence overcame them, and Athenys couldn't stay silent for any longer. "Was his last name Seraphina?"_

" _No, honey, it wasn't. Your last name comes from me."_

" _What does it mean?"_

" _Burning fire." The young girl lifts one of her eyebrows with a look of awe and wonder, followed by the slight upward curve on the side of her mouth. Athenys knows her mother well enough to know that this conversation was best left finished there. She then disappears into her room and returns a few moments later as the smell of hot chocolate fills the house. She plops down on the couch, waiting for her mother to continue telling the legends of Merlin._

* * *

"Honey! Wake up!" Helena whispers into her daughter's ear, as Athenys pretends to sleep, wrapped in sheets from the chill of late November. "You're 11 today!" That did the trick. Her eyes flicker open as she squeals and gives her mother a squeezing hug. Her eyes shoot up to meet her mother's eyes as Helena smiles and nods her head in the direction of the door. Athenys runs out of the room to find a few small boxes of presents, and on top of them a black pointed hat with a tag saying, 'from Abraxas'. Her eyes widen as she moves closer to the hat and finds a yellowish envelope resting on the brim with a purple wax seal on it. She stares at the coat of arms fixed on the seal with the letter 'H' embedded in the middle.

"Open it, dear," Helena walks toward her and places her hand on the girl's shoulder, "After you read it, there's something I want to tell you."

"So I can do magic?" Athenys continues to watch as Helena reads the instructions on the letter of how to get to Diagon Alley.

"Yes, after you learn from this school."

"But you're not a witch!"

"It comes from your father." There it is again, the awkward silence. So, he must have been a wizard. And he must've told Mum before he left Helena with a baby girl. She moves towards the candles and holds her finger in the flame. Neither Athenys nor Helena flinch.

"Is it because I'm a witch that I can't get burned?" Another short silence follows this question.

"I'm not sure," Helena looks up from the letter at Athenys. Not sure? She promises to herself that that is the first thing she is going to find out when she goes to this school, until Helena speaks up again, "Your father wasn't like that."

"Oh." Well then, she'll have to cross that off the list of things she was going to ask at school. This is going to be a new life, a new school and finally she might be able to make some friends. The last thing she wants is to bring the fire thing up and freak everyone out. Although she may as well put it to good use. Secretly, of course.

Her mother distracts her thought process with her muttering, "I'll have to ask Abraxas for help when August comes along, or even before that with the number of things we have to buy for-"

"Abraxas is a wizard? You never told me that!" That explains his weird clothing.

"He was your father's best friend at school." Helena smiles at her, then picks up the phone and walks towards the bedroom, probably to call him.

* * *

The moment she stepped into Diagon Alley her voice got caught in her throat and she couldn't talk for at least 5 minutes. Abraxas was the one who snapped her out of it, smiling, when he suggested that they go to the Wizard's bank, Gringotts first to exchange their money. They came out with Helena's purse filled with coins, called galleons, sickles and knuts. They kept on walking while Abraxas was teaching her about wizarding currency.

"Why don't we get your wand, now?" Abraxas asks, pointing at a shop far away on the right hand side.

Athenys forgets that it's her mother's first time in Diagon Alley as she looks at Helena, who mouth had fallen open slightly, "Yes, that's a good idea."

"Very well," Abraxas leads them to a small shop called Ollivander's, and they walk out twenty minutes later with Athenys's new wand. Eleven inches, chestnut with a dragon heartstring core. That is all she remembers from the long description the old man had given about the wand. So, dragons are real, as well as unicorns and phoenixes, since wands have cores from these magical animals. She had heard all about them in the stories her mother told them. She strains her memory to remember what Ollivander had said about the wood Chestnut. Ah yes, he had said that the owners are skilled tamers of magical beasts, possess great gifts in Herbology, and are natural fliers, though not all of this is true all the time, Abraxas said. When she had found her perfect wand as the old man handed it to her, she felt a warm energy flooding through her the moment her fingertips touched it, soon after causing the wand to burst a fountain of violet light from the end.

"Should we get her uniform now, Abraxas?" Helena asks as she takes out her purse again.

"Yes, we can go to Madam Malkin's for her robes."

As they reach the robe shop, Helena suggests that she stays outside while Athenys and Abraxas go inside and find a good fit. Abraxas objects, saying that Madam Malkin is a very nice woman and all Athenys has to do is go in and she'll do the rest. Athenys walks into the shop as her mother and Abraxas leave to buy her textbooks to save time. She looks around the shop, yet there seems to be no-one there, until she looks to her far left and finds a boy, around her age, with a pale pointed face and platinum blond hair. He sees her and speaks up almost immediately.

"Do you know him?"

"I'm sorry, who?"

"The boy who walked to the back of the shop with Madam Malkin, just then, didn't you see? He had messy black hair, round glasses?"

"No, I didn't, sorry."

"Oh well, I didn't get to ask what his name was. But I guess I'll see him at Hogwarts. Are you going to Hogwarts?" He spoke with a drawl, and had quite a proud nature about him.

"Yeah, I came to buy my robes."

The boy rolled his eyes and said, "Well, obviously."

Athenys scowled at him, but wishing to avoid conflict with the first wizard of her age she's ever met, she replaced her scowl with a smile and asked, "You came alone?"

"No, mother and father are away looking at other things to buy. I'm just waiting for them. I might go look at racing brooms later. Where are your parents?"

"I only live with Mum, she's gone with Abraxas to buy me textbooks."

"And they went to Hogwarts too?"

"Um…" She didn't exactly like the idea of talking about her parents with a stranger, and was about to change to topic before she saw that the boy had fixed a sneer onto his pale face.

"They're not muggles, are they?" Muggles? She was at absolute loss for words. What on earth are muggles? She felt quite offended, and the boy must have seen her confused expression when he continued, "You know, people with not even a drop of magic in their blood." He made it sound as if he was talking about cockroaches.

"I fail to see why that matters," She replied coldly.

"Oh it matters in every way possible, though I can't waste my time now giving you a lesson on it! Why don't you just answer the question?"

"My dad is a wizard, though I never really knew him. Mum's not a witch, but she was the one who took care of m-"

She was rudely interrupted by the boy, as he exclaimed, "You're a half-blood! You know, you should be rather grateful that at least one of your parents is a wizard, even though it's not the same as being a pureblood…" He rolled his eyes at her again as her confusion kept her silent, then continued, "If you look at our family tree you won't find _any_ muggles. _My_ ancestors only married people who were entirely witches or wizards, which includes no half-bloods either, by the way." He wiped away a speck of dust on his shoulder as he said this, then looked back at her with a smirk. "I'm Draco Malfoy, and my father's Lucius Malfoy. If your father was around he would know who I am, being a Malfoy and all that. Well, see you at Hogwarts, then." He walked out of the door with a swagger, leaving Athenys inside, feeling like she just got hit in the face with a rollercoaster of information.

Making sure he was out of earshot, she said "I hope you get hit by a bus before I _see you at Hogwarts._ " She said the last bit with a poor attempt of an imitation of him. Draco Malfoy. Never heard of that name before. Gosh, the nerve of that kid! There was your regular schoolyard bully, who she had grown used to and had become quite immune to, seeing that they kept on saying the same things again and again and weren't smart enough to come up with something new. Then there's this git, who made her feel as if he drilled his insults into her brain with a jackhammer. She had never experienced anything like it before. Her pride was hurt, and she was not looking forward to meeting him again at school, however she won't let this slip away that easily. That's definitely not something Athenys Seraphina would do.

She's distracted from her train of thoughts by a skinny boy with jet black messy hair and round glasses who walks to the middle of the shop where she is. Hoping that this isn't another Draco Malfoy, she smiles.

"Hi, you're going to Hogwarts?"

"Oh, um, yes." Shy and reserved, he smiles at her. The complete opposite of Malfoy. Thank god.

"Cool, I'm Athenys Seraphina."

He raises an eyebrow, then says, "I'm Harry Potter. Nice name, by the way." He doesn't seem to be sarcastic, so she responds with a warm smile.

"Thanks, I'll see you at Hogwarts, then!"

"See you." He waves and walks out.

A woman then walks out from the back of the shop, "Here for your robes? Come, darling, I'll get you all fitted in no time!"

* * *

She finds Abraxas and her mother waiting outside the shop and Abraxas opens his mouth, but Athenys is quicker.

"Do you know some people called the Malfoys?"

Abraxas looks taken aback with her sudden question, then responds, "Yes, I do. Did you meet Lucius?"

"No, I met a boy called Draco Malfoy. He told me about muggles, half-bloods and purebloods. He spoke as if purebloods are the most precious things on earth!"

"Well, there was a time I thought the same way."

Both Athenys and Helena look dumbfounded, and all Athenys can say is, "WHAT?"

"Hey, that was a long time ago. Plus, being in Slytherin house and being from a pureblood family, it's hard to steer away from those beliefs."

"Being in _what_ house?"

"Slytherin," he says, matter-of-factly, "It's one of the four houses in Hogwarts." And they continue walking through Diagon Alley talking about Hogwarts. This is going to be an interesting year.

* * *

"Come on Athenys, pull yourself together!" she tells herself. It brings a boost of confidence to her but does nothing to the butterflies in her stomach that are apparently having a party down there. She grunts in annoyance and stretches her arms and legs. It's September first, and they arrived at King's Cross Station an hour early 'just in case', as Helena insisted while Abraxas ensured it will all be alright.

Helena is going through the list of things she needs to make sure she's ready, while Abraxas is guiding them to Platform 9 ¾. Finally, they arrive at a wall where Abraxas makes the absurd suggestion.

"So you just run through it."

"Excuse me?" Both Helena and Athenys ask at the same time.

"You can walk but running will ease the nerves." He turns to Helena, "I'll take her from here, Helena."

"Thank you so much, Abraxas!" And she knows that now it's time for the hundredth lecture for the day, as Helena turns to Athenys.

"Did you pack all of your textbooks?"

Athenys sighs, then says, "Yes, Mum, I've packed everything!"

"You'll write to me every week?"

"Of course, Mum."

"And you have your-"

Abraxas shuffles, "Really, Helena we've already checked everything through. There's no need to worry!" He smiles with a shake of his head.

"Oh, alright then! Stay safe, Athenys, and tell me everything that happens, I'll see you for Christmas!" and she gives a final peck on her cheek.

"Bye, Mum." She wraps her arms around her Mum into a tight embrace. Gosh she's going to miss her.

 **Author's note: Hi! I just wanted to remind you that this story follows the** **story line** **of the Harry Potter books, and contains references to the HBO series Game of Thrones. You'll have to be a little patient with how the story shows reference to GOT, but I promise there'll be small signs throughout the story, which will eventually become a big part of it. Hope you enjoy!**


	2. 12 Uses of Dragon's Blood

**Hey, hope you like the story so far, and thank you to those who started following! Also, if you don't get the reference towards the end of the chapter to GOT, maybe watch the scene where Daenerys talks to Jon Snow after he touches Drogon in S7E05.**

There's five minutes until the Hogwarts Express leaves, and Athenys spots the boy with the round glasses she met at Madam Malkin's boarding the train. She decides to follow suit and is ready to say goodbye to Abraxas, when they are faced with a tall man with long platinum hair, dressed in black robes. Behind him, is Draco Malfoy. She suddenly finds the wall behind her very interesting and decides to stare at it, anywhere except at him. Her mission to avoid any eye contact with the boy is failed when the older version of him speaks.

"Ah, Abraxas, haven't seen you in quite a long time." This man also spoke with a drawl, with a surprising resemblance to Draco Malfoy. Athenys spins around to look at the man, then makes eye contact with Draco Malfoy. His father, or at least she assumes is father, continues speaking.

"What a pleasure this is." His face said otherwise, and Athenys had to bite down on her tongue to avoid saying any thoughts out loud.

"Lucius, it is indeed a pleasure," Abraxas nods with a smile.

"I didn't know you had a daughter?" Mr Malfoy looks down at Athenys with his cold grey eyes, and she feels like this is not a man she would want to cross.

"Oh no, Lucius, this is a friend's daughter."

"It wouldn't be… Dominic's child?" She could feel Abraxas tensing. "I heard he grew quite affectionate for a Muggle wo-"

"That would be my mother. She's here, at Kings Cross Station." All heads turn in her direction. Abraxas frowns at her. What? He can't expect her to stay shut up when a random man is about to speak about her mum, who he apparently compares to filth.

Lucius's face of shock is replaced by an upward curve of his mouth, "I see she's inherited his quick mouth. I would suggest, Abraxas, that you teach her how to speak to her elders."

Abraxas raises his eyebrows at her waiting for her to respond.

With great difficulty, she swallows her pride. "I'm sorry, Mr Malfoy." She looks at Draco Malfoy who is watching her with a curious expression, and back up at Mr Malfoy, who with a satisfied nod, approves of her apology.

"What is your name, girl?"

"Athenys Seraphina."

"Seraphina?" Lucius repeats with an unreadable expression, "You aren't related to the Targa-"

He is interrupted by the train horn, and everyone starts rushing, as Abraxas speaks up, "The train is going to leave very soon! It's best that you get on very quick!"

She takes her trunk, nods goodbye to Abraxas with a big smile and "Thank you!" and heads to the train, right behind Draco. All the compartments seem to be taken, and she walks to the least crowded one where inside there is a bushy haired girl and a round-faced boy.

"Hi, can I join you please?"

The bushy haired girl moves to the corner of the seat to make room for her, and says "Sure, it's just us two in here." Athenys notices that the girl had rather large front teeth as she speaks. "I'm Hermione Granger, and this is Neville Longbottom." The round-faced boy gives a small smile and a nod. He appears to be very nervous.

"I'm Athenys Seraphina."

"Athenys? Were you named after Athena, the Greek Goddess of wisdom and war?"

"Yes… yes I am." She knew the name 'Hermione' clicked from somewhere, "And you're named after the daughter of King Menelaus of Sparta and Helen of Troy!"

Hermione smiles, "Correct. So, you're into Greek Mythology? I've read quite a lot about it. Do you read about it a lot?"

"Um, actually no. My mum always tells me stories of legends."

"Trevor!" Neville exclaims, "Trevor, where's he gone?" The boy's face was becoming redder and redder by the minute, "Oh no, Gran's going to kill me!"

"Calm down Neville," Hermione stands up, "Let's go, we'll look for him."

"Who's Trevor?" Athenys asks.

"It's his toad. I'm sorry, but do you mind staying here until we come back? Someone might take our compartment thinking that it's empty."

"Ok, sure." She looks out of the window at the stretched fields as Hermione and Neville leave the compartment. She is deep in thought about what Hogwarts is going to be like when she is interrupted by the door of her compartment sliding, and occupying the space is none other than Draco Malfoy with two goon-like boys either side of him.

"You're by yourself?" He asks with his hands in his pockets, "This is Crabbe and Goyle, by the way."

So-called Crabbe and Goyle didn't appear to be expecting an introduction, so she just ignored them. "No, I was here with two others, they'll be back soon." He dismisses Crabbe and Goyle, walks into the compartment, and closes the door behind him. He takes a seat opposite her.

"Seems like you have bodyguards," she spills before she could stop herself. She thought Draco would come up with a hostile remark, but to her surprise, he looks at her, uninterested and lays back into the seat.

"You did something to your eyes, did you? Already doing spells on yourself? But that would be complex magic, so you probably asked someone else to do it." She… wait, what?

"I didn't do anything!" she snapped.

"Oh really? I swear I saw something back when you were speaking with father. Like a flash of purple," He raises an eyebrow, waiting for her to respond.

"You must be seeing things," she looks at the door, wondering why on earth Hermione and Neville are taking so long. In how many ways could this conversation get more uncomfortable? She looks back at him and he looks unconvinced.

"You think I'm lying," she says.

He leans forward, hands still in pockets, "We're getting close to Hogwarts, I'm going to go get changed, and-"

"What house do you think you'll be in?" she blurts out. She had her fingers crossed hoping he wouldn't say Slytherin. She really didn't think about the houses, until Abraxas told her that him and her father were in Slytherin. Abraxas made it sound like Slytherin is the better house, but that could be because he's a Slytherin himself. However, that wasn't the full reason that she is drawn to Slytherin. It's the house of cunning, ambition and resourcefulness, all which she believes describes herself as a person.

Draco lifts his chin, suddenly looking interested, "My entire family was in Slytherin. I'm sure I'll be chosen for Slytherin too." Oh, shoot. He then stands, "Get changed, we're almost there." And he leaves. She isn't left alone for long, though, as Hermione walks in a minute later followed by a very worried-looking Neville.

* * *

Abraxas told her about a sorting hat, that it is old and it sings. She didn't expect it to actually look _that_ old though. She spots Harry Potter in the crowd in front of her, talking to a redhead boy. She lost Hermione and Neville on the way to the Great Hall, but spots them towards the front of the crowd as well. The witch who introduced herself as Professor Mcgonagall is standing at the front with a scroll, calling out names, after which the students place on the hat and are sorted. Her butterflies are back, and she crosses her arms to try to overcome it.

She stands there, watching as some familiar faces are being sorted. Harry Potter, the redhead boy whose name is Ron Weasley, Hermione and Neville are all sorted into Gryffindor. She clicks her tongue in annoyance. Then, it's Draco Malfoy. He walks up to the hat and as the hat is slowly being lowered onto his head she silently prays to every existing god that he won't be in Slytherin. The hat only just touches his head when the hat shouts-

"SLYTHERIN!"

Blast! She groans, a little too loudly, as she looks back at Goyle towering above her. Swallowing heavily, she faces to the front and watches Draco as he swaggers towards the cheering Slytherin table. Everything was going downhill. The only three friends… wait, were they friends? Well, the three people that came closest to friends to her were all chosen into Gryffindor. She looks over at the Gryffindor table, all seeming to enjoy themselves, especially since Harry Potter was in their house now. She didn't know that he was famous for defeating some dark wizard as a baby until she overheard it coming out of the train. Her eyes eventually fall to Hermione Granger, who is waving at her and she waves back, less enthusiastically. All seemed to be going slightly downhill. Now, the sneering boy she was hoping she would be able to steer clear from is placed in the house she so desperately wants to be in. What could possibly be next? She finds out she's actually a muggle?

"Athenys Seraphina!"

Oh, sweet Athena, this is it. Her legs feel like jelly as she walks to the front and her journey seems to take hours until she finally reaches the hat and sits down. She gulps as the hat is placed on her head, much too large for her head as it covers her eyes. The hat starts talking quite softly, and the hall falls silent.

"Interesting, good brains fit for a Ravenclaw." She gulps again. "Ambitious, very ambitious, and quite a thirst to prove yourself, I see. Clever mind for quick thinking, as well as seeking revenge on those who do you wrong. Ambition, resourcefulness, cunning, it would be no other than… SLYTHERIN!" She feels the blood rushing back to her legs as she lets out a breath. She can't help the smile breaking ear to ear as she walks towards the cheering and clapping Slytherin table.

* * *

Athenys is having trouble getting used to the flow of Hogwarts. The moving staircases, Peeves popping up at unexpected places, and worst of all is Mr Filch. Athenys manages to get on his bad books on her second day, when out of curiosity she decides to have a peek at the third-floor corridor, which is out of bounds.

"AH! Caught another one! Not going to feed me the same story as the other ones, now are you?" Filch spat.

"No! It was a mistake, I was-"

"Lost? Well, well, well. Guess we will have to-"

"Mr Filch! T-t-trouble again, is it?" Professor Quirrell emerges from the staircase.

"This one won't get away this time, Professor Quirrell… like the Potter boy did."

"They're f-first y-years, Mr Filch. Miss Seraphina, p-please make y-your way b-b-back to your common room." Now that was a close one.

Despite the bad mood of Professor Snape, Potions becomes one of the subjects at which Athenys performs best in. However, she is hardly ever enthusiastic to go to Potions lessons, because of Snape. Every lesson when Snape taunts Neville Longbottom and humiliates Harry Potter, it makes her a little bit uneasy. Pansy is the opposite.

"Snape is great, I mean he always gives Slytherin the points!" Pansy exclaims as she's tying her hair up.

"Mostly because of you, Athenys," Daphne says as she pulls her robe on, "I mean we're lucky that Snape gives us the points for your answers to balance the points that Granger always gets from other classes. Otherwise we can lose all hope of winning the cup."

"URGH that _Granger_!" Pansy shrieks, "I can't _stand_ her! I mean every time she waves her hand in the air I just want to grab it and dunk it in a bubbling potion!" Aggressive much, Athenys mumbles under her breath.

Wishing to change the topic, Athenys speaks up, "I have to say though, Snape is a good teacher."

However, Pansy doesn't seem to hear as she continues her rant on Hermione Granger. Athenys quietly admits to herself that Hermione kind of does annoy her. Not because she is a know-it-all, but because she is gaining Gryffindor all those points.

Astronomy always catches her fascination, along with History of Magic, although only when she studies the subject herself. Professor Binns's voice always caused Athenys to fall asleep in class, and she wasn't alone. In fact, most of the class always seemed to fall asleep, yet the ghost Professor never seems to notice. Flying lessons were a whole different story thanks to the drama queens Potter and Malfoy. What was also interesting was that Athenys wasn't so bad at flying herself. The broom flew into her hand as soon as she said 'up!' and she was able to hover quite effortlessly. That is, until Neville involuntarily did some weird acrobatics on his broom and broke his wrist.

* * *

Christmas holidays finally arrive and Athenys runs out of the platform to give her mother a crushing hug.

"Mum, I've got so much to tell you!"

"I bet you do, honey," Helena replies along with a kiss on her forehead, which makes Athenys blush profusely.

But just as quick as they came, the Christmas holidays are over. However, she is excited to go back to Hogwarts. The night after students return to Hogwarts Athenys decides to go to the Owlery to send a letter to Helena, saying that she's arrived and settled. The Slytherin common room clears quite early, leaving only Blaise Zabini, Theodore Nott and Draco on the couches playing Exploding Snap, and Athenys near the fireplace writing her letter.

"Hey, Athenys," Theodore waves at her, "Wanna play?"

"Oh, no it's ok."

"What are you doing there anyway?" It's Blaise this time.

"I'm writing a letter to mum."

"Already?" Athenys can hear the judgemental tone in his voice, and looks over at Draco expecting to see him roll his eyes but instead notices that he's looking a little uncomfortable.

"Yeah, she gets worried easily." She hears Blaise scoff and then silence falls, until Draco speaks up.

"I'm just going to go to the bathroom." Athenys frowns as she notices what the others don't notice. The corner of what seemed like an envelope is sticking out of his robe pocket.

"Yeah sure, see you in a bit," Blaise says as Draco slips out of the common room. Athenys seals her letter and places it in her robe pocket, then follows him out of the dungeon. Trying not to be seen by him, Athenys continues to follow him, moving between the students making their way to their dorm rooms. Then, instead of turning left to the bathrooms, he continues walking through the castle until he reaches the Owlery. Still trying not to be seen, Athenys hides behind the doorway and sees Draco take out the envelope and attach it to the leg of a handsome eagle owl, then lets it go.

Athenys steps into the room, "Ah, seems like I'm not the only one telling my mum I got back safe."

Draco turns his head in surprise, "W-What? No, no I was just… uh… I forgot some things!"

"Then why were you trying to hide it from Blaise and Theo?"

There, he's lost for words.

"Fine, yes, I was." He frowns.

"What's so bad about it? Are you embarrassed? Actually… don't answer that. I know the answer."

He stares at her in annoyance, "Can you move? I want to get back to the common room."

"Well you don't seem so secretive accepting all the sweets your eagle owl brings."

"That's different."

Silence again, then Athenys pushes it, "Do you miss her? Your mum?"

He continues to stare at her, this time with both annoyance and confusion, "Sort of."

"Me too."

" _What?"_

"I meant _my_ mum, you goose!" She can't control the giggles that come afterwards, but then stops when she sees the expression on his face. Apparently, Draco Malfoy doesn't like being called a goose.

"Get lost," He shoves her and walks off and she accidentally pushes over an empty cage.

* * *

April comes along and Athenys starts to feel the pressure of exams, thanks to the load of homework she is getting. On Saturday morning Pansy invites Athenys to join her and Daphne to meet in the common room, but avoids it saying that she's going to the library, knowing that all they're going to talk about is gossip. It's not that she hates Pansy. She actually kind of likes her, since she can be quite a good friend. Although, she _can_ be a bit too chatty sometimes and only seems to complain about the school. Daphne is probably the only girl that she has gotten especially close to.

When Athenys walks into the library there's mostly students who are older than fourth years and she can't find any first years, until her eyes fall on Hermione Granger. She walks towards her and hears her reciting the Twelve Uses of Dragon's Blood to herself.

"And the final use is-"

"Oven cleaner," Athenys sits down beside her, "Studying already?"

Hermione smiles, "Well, exams _are_ close."

"Hm… Ten weeks."

"That's _so_ close!"

Athenys can't help smiling to herself, and Hermione notices.

"Well what are you smiling about, I mean you seem quite prepared!"

"Not really, I've just gone through all the dragon-related things. I can't remember anything else."

"Why only the dragon-related things?"

Athenys shifts closer to the table and leans forward, "I don't know, it just interests me more than anything else."

"Dragons really are fascinating beasts."

Athenys frowns slightly, "They're not beasts to me."

Hermione suddenly looked uncomfortable, "Then?"

"More like fascinating creatures."

Athenys then laughs at Hermione's expression, and Hermione smiles, "You can help me with this then, now that you're here."

"More like _you_ can help me."


	3. Dragon Egg

**Note: This chapter is a bit shorter. Sorry about that! But I thought this section goes together well and if I added the next bits to it, then it wouldn't flow well. The next chapter will probably be the last chapter for first year. Enjoy!**

Despite the blue skies and the weather warming up, Athenys decides to spend most of her time in the library. Every time she is in there she sees Hermione, but doesn't approach her much now since she's always accompanied by Harry and Ron. It's not because she doesn't like them. Harry had talked to her about twice now and she smiled occasionally at Ron, but it was always awkward, probably due to the stereotypical House rivalry.

This time she decides to approach the trio to see how they're going with their work. However, she suddenly hides behind the shelf behind them when she overhears their conversation.

" _Dragons!"_ Ron whispers, "Hagrid was looking up stuff about Dragons!"

Harry then says something about Hagrid always wanting a dragon. She continues listening as she also hears Ron whispering about dragon-breeding being outlawed since 1709. What really catches her attention is when he mentions that there are dragons in Great Britain. It sounds like the trio really are as curious as she is about what Hagrid is up to with dragons, except for different reasons.

Athenys stays in the library until darkness starts to fall, and an hour later she spots Hermione, Ron and Harry leaving the library. She quickly collects her books, stuffs them in her bag and starts following the trio closely, but far enough so that they wouldn't realise, which isn't very hard with the crowd in the corridors. She starts to keep a larger distance behind them once they enter the grounds and watches from afar as they knock the door of Hagrid's Hut.

She starts moving closer after they enter the hut, and crouches down behind a window. Unfortunately, she cannot see much of what's happening inside as the curtains are all closed, but she manages to find a small opening of the curtains on the right-hand side of the window. She can only hear a few muffled words and sentences out of the serious conversation they seemed to be having, such as 'Snape', something about a stone and 'Fluffy'. She sees Hermione fanning herself and hears Harry asking to open the window, but then they all look at the fireplace and Athenys catches her breath.

Amongst the flames in the fireplace is a large, black egg. The more she stares at the egg the more familiar it looks. Suddenly, the images flash in her mind. She sees a similar egg, except with scales on them, lying on the ground, and beside it are more eggs of different sizes and colours. She can't figure out how she knows the name, but it slips from her tongue.

"A Norwegian Ridgeback!" She gasps, and instantly cups her hand around her mouth. She notices the very worried-looking trio starting to head towards the door and she quietly runs back to the castle before they would notice her.

Two days later Athenys, avoiding bumping into anyone she knows, runs to Hagrid's Hut as soon as darkness starts to fall. Fortunately, the small opening of the curtain is still there, as she continues to stare at the egg while Hagrid stoked the fire. She almost gets caught when her attention was too focused on the egg and not Hagrid, but manages to run away by the time Hagrid opens the door to see if anyone is there.

The next few days she keeps a very close eye on the trio, looking for any signs of them having contact with Hagrid. Then, one morning she sees them receiving a letter, followed by a hushed argument between them as they all are exiting the Great Hall. She doesn't make it in time to get close enough to hear what they are saying, and instead they start making their way to Herbology. She notices, however, Draco standing between her and the trio with a smirk on his face.

Well, he does always have a sneer on his face. But only a smirk when he's _up to something._

After Herbology, Athenys can only guess that Harry, Ron and Hermione were rushing to go see the dragon, and she can't help wondering what was in the letter they received. Is the dragon alright? Did it hatch? Did it _die_? She follows them to Hagrid's Hut and hides behind the same window with the small opening after the other three enter. She sees that the egg has cracks in it, and watches with anticipation as the cracks grow larger and larger, and the baby dragon pops out of the egg. Her eyes grow wider and she can't help smiling when she sees the dragon crawl out of the egg and onto the table. The dragon isn't exactly attractive, but nonetheless Athenys can't help admiring the black creature's horns, leathery wings and bulging orange eyes. The dragon then turns its head slightly in her direction, until Hagrid strokes its head.

"Bless him," Hagrid says. _He?_ Well Hagrid has gotten his facts wrong. This is obviously a female, "He knows his Mummy!"

Just after Hagrid says 'Mummy', the dragon bares its fangs at him and sets Hagrid's beard on fire, then looks back in Athenys's direction. She stares into the beautiful orange eyes and can't takes her eyes off until she hears a rustle from her left-hand side and sees a blond-headed boy staring intently through one side of the other window and slowly heading in her way. She recognises the boy as Draco and thankfully, he hadn't seen her.

Without making a sound, she moves away from him and hides behind the barrel as she feels her heart beating in her throat. She helplessly watches Draco peeking through the same opening she was looking through. Suddenly, Draco stiffens, then runs back toward the castle, later followed by an arguing and worried-looking trio. Waiting for them to disappear and Hagrid to go back into his hut, Athenys quietly and quickly runs back to the castle as well.

The next few days Athenys took every chance possible for her to go and look at the dragon. Throughout the days she watched it as it kept on growing and being fed by Hagrid. She even watched Ron feed it, but he got bitten by it, and she kept on looking at Ron's hand in classes to see how it was, but it was wrapped in a handkerchief.

Sunday morning Athenys wakes up with the rest of the school to find out that their house had lost twenty points. The mood of the Slytherin house, however, is instantly lifted when they see that Gryffindor had lost 150 points. Through rumours and gossip Athenys hears a few different versions of what had happened. The rest of Gryffindor are obviously angry at Harry, Hermione and Neville. Some Slytherins are mad at Draco for losing 20 points, but most are congratulating him for managing to get Gryffindor to lose 150.

Of course, no one believes his story about the dragon, but Athenys knows better, and one afternoon manages to get Draco on his own in the common room.

"You _have_ to tell me what happened."

Draco sneered, "Tell you what, how Pothead managed to make bloody Gryffindor _last_ in the leader board?"

"No! I want to know about the dragon!"

Draco stiffened, then frowned, "Why?"

"I just want to know exactly what happened… to the dragon."

"You won't believe me-"

"Oh, my goodness, Malfoy! I'm the only one who's actually _willing_ to listen to your story, so are you going tell me or not?"

He straightened up and lifted his chin, "Well, I saw them in the oaf's hut with that egg, when it hatched. And then Weasley got his hand bitten by it, so I paid him a little visit but the idiot wasn't careful with the letter he got, so I read it."

"What did it say?"

"It was from the older Weasley, Charlie, I think. He was going to meet them at midnight Saturday to give the dragon to his friends who were visiting."

"Did the plan work?"

"Well, no Seraphina, because _obviously_ no one believed me."

"Not your plan! _Their_ plan, to send the dragon!"

"Uh, yes…"

She felt her heart sink, "She's gone?" she whispered.

"Excuse me?" Draco lifted an eyebrow, " _She?"_

"It. I meant it's gone."

"Yes, it's _gone_. Why the hell do you seem so bloody depressed?"

"Oh… uh, nothing."

Draco crossed his arms and leaned against the wall, "So you believe me? About the dragon and how the oaf had it?"

"Not you, I believe what I saw with my own eyes."

"Wait, you were there at the hut? I didn't see you!"

"Well," Athenys said, crossing her arms, "I saw you."

"What are we waiting here for then? Let's _go!_ "

"What do you mean?"

Draco straightened up, eyes wide, "You're a witness too! We can tell McGonagall that they had a dragon, and they could even be expelled and that oaf Hagrid will have to go too!"

"No, I'm not doing that, and you can't make me because if you tell anyone that I saw I'll just say that you're lying. And _trust_ me, you better be careful with the points you've already lost." And with the last word, she left the room.


	4. Half-Bloods and Blood-Traitors

Thanks to Draco's non-stop complaining about the detention he received in the Forbidden Forest, the common room is no longer a quiet place for Athenys to study at night. Instead of playing exploding snap or wizard's chess or even studying, her fellow Slytherins are all huddled around Draco, who is saying his version of the story about what happened in the forest and how his father is going to hear about it.

"Of course, _Father_ will not rest until that _oaf_ is kicked out of this place!" He says for the fifth time, "In fact, I think he will complain to the ministry about Dumbledore, and consider sending me to Durmstrang."

"I don't know why either of them are still in this school!" Marcus Flint exclaims, "They're just pathetic, aren't they?"

And then Pansy starts, "Honestly, if It wasn't for Snape, this place would have gone to the dogs!"

As the conversation continues with more harsh names exchanged for the Headmaster and gamekeeper, Athenys decides that there is no point attempting to study in the common room. She then walks up to her dorm and tries to sleep, yet her mind is too occupied.

What really was the cloaked figure that Draco saw in the Forbidden Forest? And according to him, Harry was left behind, but he wasn't harmed. These thoughts soon leave her mind, however, as she starts thinking about the Norwegian Ridgeback. Is she safe? What is Charlie Weasley going to do with her? Would he keep her trapped, in a cage? She can't keep going on like this, without knowing what happened to the dragon. All Athenys sees when she closes her eyes are the big orange eyes staring at her own sapphire blue ones.

She can't ask Draco, because he wouldn't know much, and asking Ron, Harry or Hermione would be too suspicious. If she asks Hagrid, perhaps, she can just pretend to be interested in dragons, just like him. And Hagrid won't be able to report her about being out of bed like her classmates, since she saw Hagrid with the dragon. With a huge sigh, Athenys decides that she will visit the gamekeeper the day after, and with that thought, she falls asleep.

* * *

The day after, wishing to not risk being caught out of bed, Athenys decides to meet Hagrid straight after classes end while students are still allowed to roam about. Daphne and Theodore invite her to study together in the common room, while Pansy, Blaise, Draco and the others leave for a walk, but Athenys tells them that she'll join them later, and that she has to borrow a book from the library.

She finally makes it to the hut without being seen by too many people, and knocks on the door. She has to knock three times before the door finally opens and the tall figure appears in the doorway.

"Athenys, what are yeh doin' here?" Athenys can see that Hagrid's mood is down, probably because of the dragon being gone.

"Hi Hagrid. I was wondering if I could talk to you for a bit?"

"Talk to me? What could yeh possibly wan' to talk abou' with me?"

"I can't really say it here, it's quite secretive," she then lowers her voice, "I want to know about Norbert."

Hagrid's eyes widen with surprise, "Alrigh', come inside then, quickly!" He then invites her to sit down and serves her tea and rock cakes, which she pretends to enjoy.

"How do yeh know abou' Norbert?"

Athenys sighs, thinking about how she is going to say everything without it being awkward, "I saw you with the dragon when Harry, Ron and Hermione came to visit. I was there when the egg hatched, and a few other times when you were feeding her."

"Her?" Hagrid raises a bushy eyebrow.

"I think Norbert is actually female."

"Is that so?" He looks unconvinced. After all, who would believe what a girl her age says about dragons? He continues, "Where did yeh see all this from?"

"There was an opening in the curtain." Athenys then explains to Hagrid about all the times she came to see the dragon, then what Draco told her about the letter.

"Is it true?" Athenys straightens up, "Has Norbert really gone? To Romania?"

Hagrid's expression turned sad, then he said, "Yes, he's gon'. But Charlie will take good care of him. Yeh won' be tellin' no one abou' this will yeh?"

"No, I promise I won't, otherwise I would've told Professor McGonagall already. By the way, Charlie is Ron's older brother, isn't he?"

"Yeh got tha' right. Good boy tha' Charlie. Always liked him, wha' with being interested in dragons, we always had good conversations about 'em."

"Why is he in Romania?"

"Studyin' dragons. Romania's the best place for it. Everyone reckon'd he'd have done better continuing Quidditch, being an amazin' seeker an' all, but he's a smart lad, chose the perfect career."

"Doesn't Britain have a lot of dragons?"

"There is one dragon reserve in Britain, but I reck'n it probably on'y has two or three. That was why it was hard fer me teh come across one, especially as a baby."

Hagrid then offers her more rock cakes, which she kindly refuses, saying that she needs to save space for dinner.

"Anyway, Athenys. Wha' makes yeh so interested abou' dragons?"

"It's hard to explain. I just find them so fascinating and for some reason I feel like I'm attached to them."

"Well, yeh came to the righ' person, Athenys. They're just beautiful, aren't they?" Hagrid smiles at her, and she smiles back.

"They really are, and I bet Norbert is going to grow up to be beautiful."

"He definitely, will! Did yeh see the size of him even after a few days?"

With that conversation, Athenys very quickly becomes good friends with Hagrid. She learns a lot of things about how dragons are kept, cared for and studied in different countries. She never thought that she would be able to find anyone who she could talk about dragons with like this. She even doubted whether Hagrid would want to see her after finding out that she was sneaking out to see Norbert without him knowing. But she was wrong. It seems like Hagrid just loves dragons so much that he thought to overlook all that. After learning about different breeds of dragons as well, it is time for Athenys to return for dinner.

"Make sure yeh come here whenever yeh wanna know more, won't yeh?" Hagrid says.

"I definitely will!" She then bids him goodbye and makes her way to the castle.

* * *

With Hagrid's help, as well as reading books on dragons during library visits, Athenys learns a heap of information about dragons. Nevertheless, she doesn't forget about her exams, and still manages to fit in enough studying to be able to breeze through all of them. After the final exam, History of Magic, Athenys makes her way to the common room along with her fellow Slytherins to celebrate. Feeling triumphant after beating Blaise, Draco and Tracey with Wizard's Chess, Athenys decides to take a break from celebrating and go to visit Hagrid.

As she walks to the hut, she sees Harry, Ron and Hermione running from the hut towards the castle with worried looks on their faces. Curious, Athenys walks faster towards Hagrid, who is sitting outside the hut looking anxious.

"Hagrid, what happened?"

"I'm sorry Athenys, can't talk right now. I jus' can't keep my mouth shut. Now I don' know what to do!"

"Well let me help you!"

"Sorry but I can' tell yeh Athenys, I'll talk to yeh later." And with that, he went back into his hut and closed his door.

Feeling flustered, Athenys slowly walks back to the castle, until she walks into Draco.

"What were you doing there, at the oaf's place?"

"None of your business."

"I saw you, you go there quite often. Is it to talk about the dragon?"

How does he know about that? Struggling to keep a straight face, Athenys says, "No, of course not!"

"Well you seemed quite interested in that baby dragon, and you're always reading books about them!"

"Are you stalking me?"

"No, I was just curious why you kept avoiding Pansy and was sneaking off to the library. Luckily for you, she hasn't noticed that you're avoiding her."

Seems like there's no way to swerve his question, "So what if I was talking to Hagrid about that? We share common interests. _And_ I'm not the only one, there are plenty of other people who have similar interests."

"Like?"

"Like Charlie Weasley!"

"If you're really going to compare yourself to a Weasley and an oaf, then you really have a problem." What's that supposed to mean?

"Point?"

"The Weasleys are a bunch of blood traitors, and the oaf is... well... an _oaf_."

" _Will you stop calling him an oaf!_ He's my friend!"

"You don't have better people to make friends with?"

She scoffs, "You mean like, _you_? I'd rather make friends with a hundred half-giants and so called 'blood traitors' than be friends with someone who doesn't even know how to talk a person kindly, let alone make friends with them."

There's an awkward silence, and Draco looks quite taken back. He quickly hides it with a sneer.

"Well what can I expect from you, you're a half-blood."

Feeling agitated, Athenys crosses her arms, "Meaning?", but then Draco starts to walk away, hands in pockets, "What are you trying to say, Malfoy?" she shouts after him, but there is no response, and Athenys stomps her foot in frustration.

After the next few days, the first years receive their marks and Athenys isn't surprised to see that she has scored the least in History of Magi, however passed exceptionally in all other subjects. The only thing that lets her mood down is Slytherin missing out on the cup, thanks to Gryffindor. However, she cheers up thinking about how she is going to see her mother again.

One year down, six to go.

 **Note: In case you didn't pick it up, the part where Athenys sees the trio running towards the castle with worried looks on their faces is when they had found out that Hagrid had told the stranger about Fluffy. And also, that's the end of first year!** **?**


	5. Serpent Whispers

**Hi! First of all, I wanted to apologize for not uploading a chapter for so long! I've been busy with Uni starting and everything. Unfortunately, this chapter is the only chapter for second year.** **However, I have already written parts for third year which will be much more eventful and go deeper into Athenys's heritage.**

"Mum, don't worry!" Athenys said as Helena fusses over Athenys's robes, "Daphne's parents will be there too."

"Yes, I know," Helena replied, "But don't move even an inch away from Abraxas until you meet Daphne at Diagon Alley, okay?"

Abraxas opened the door, "Really, Helena, she'll be fine. Athenys, when you're ready, I'll meet you outside."

Two minutes later Athenys met Abraxas outside, ready to leave for Diagon Alley to buy everything she needed for her second year as Hogwarts. Moments later they finally arrived at Diagon Alley, and Abraxas left Athenys with Daphne's parents.

"Have you got your booklist, Athenys?" Daphne asked.

"Yep, right here." Athenys pulled out the parchment.

"First, I need to buy some new robes," Daphne said, "You wanna go there first?"

Just then Athenys's eye caught a glimpse of white-blond hair near an arch which led to a dark alleyway in the corner of the street. As she looked closer she saw Draco Malfoy and Lucius Malfoy walking towards the alleyway. Lucius Malfoy seemed to be acting very calm, but Draco appeared to be a little nervous.

"Actually, I'll meet you at Flourish and Blotts," Athenys said, "There's some other books I just wanted to have a look at."

"You sure?"

"Yeah, I'll meet you there."

As soon as Daphne left Athenys quickly but quietly follows the Malfoys down the alleyway, keeping a safe distance. A few metres in she saw them going into a dimly-lit and creepy looking shop. Peeking in through the window, Athenys found it hard to hear what the Malfoys are saying, but her eye caught the door of the large black cabinet inside, of which she swore she saw the door move. Without wishing to be spotted by the Malfoys who turned to leave the shop, Athenys quickly moved away and turned right into a small shop, and her mouth opened a fraction as she looked around at the shop. It seemed to be a shop which is dedicated to selling insects and animal parts. On one side of the shop are jars of slugs, lacewing flies and maggots, and on the other side of the shop, parts of animals such as squids, serpents, acromantulas and… _dragons._ An entire part of the wall had different dragon hides, claws and horns.

Feeling as though she might be sick, Athenys rushed out of the store before the owner could notice, but instantly hid between the shops as she spotted Hagrid and Harry walking through the alleyway. What was Harry doing here? She figures they must be heading towards Diagon Alley, since they were heading the same way that she had followed the Malfoys and wishing to avoid many questions, she quietly followed them back.

"Athenys! Where _were_ you?" Daphne said as she pulls Athenys into Flourish and Blotts, "I was waiting here for almost half an hour!"

"Met some people, got caught up," Athenys mumbled.

"Well come on, quickly! Gilderoy Lockhart himself is here!"

"Lockhart? The one who's written our books this year!"

"Yes!" Daphne squealed, "He's signing copies, right there!"

Athenys turned slightly to where Daphne was pointing, and saw a rather handsome man with golden locks and a perfect pearly white smile.

"Didn't know you were into Ravenclaws, Greengrass," said a drawling voice as both Athenys and Daphne turned around to face Draco.

"He went to Hogwarts?" Athenys asked.

"Well of course he did, Seraphina. Thought you would know that by now. Father told me when we first got our booklist!"

"Of course, he did," Athenys silently said to herself.

"Have you seen Pansy around?" Daphne asked Draco.

"No, I haven't. I probably won't today, I'll probably be going home now. I'm just waiting for Father to get back."

"Oh, where is he?" Athenys hoped Draco wouldn't notice her suspicious tone.

"Just attending a few matters."

"In Knockturn Alley, perhaps?"

Draco's head spun toward her, frowning, "What?"

Athenys is glad when the distraction, in the name of the Weasleys and the golden trio enter the bookshop.

"I was wondering why it suddenly smelled filthy." Draco drawled.

Athenys, who wasn't in the mood to argue with Draco, was about to move through the crowd to get her books when Lockhart shouted.

"It _can't_ be Harry Potter!"

Athenys tilted her head to see that Draco had the nastiest sneer on his face. _This should be fun_ , thought Athenys to herself. Sensing that a very nasty exchange was going to follow in the bookshop, Athenys quickly got her books and left Diagon Alley with Daphne to Daphne's house, where Abraxas was waiting to take Athenys home.

Saying goodbye to Abraxas, Athenys boarded the Hogwarts Express with Daphne and found the compartment occupied by Pansy and Blaise. Soon after, Draco entered.

"Surprise, surprise, didn't see famous Potter or Weaselhead at the station." Draco said, as he smirked and crossed his arms.

"Oh yes!" squealed Pansy, "Mudblood was all by herself!"

"And it's totally our business." Athenys mumbled, as all heads turned to her.

"You're not still talking to her, are you?" Daphne asked.

A few seconds of silence followed, and Athenys sighed, "No, I'm not."

"Of course, keeping in contact with them would be unwise, especially this year," Draco said.

Athenys straightened, "Meaning?"

"Meaning, that certain things are bound to happen to those who are unworthy of magic."

"How do you know?"

"Well, Seraphina, my father has told me all about it, but it's very confidential, you know. Only a few people of the inner circle can know about it."

"And your inner circle is comprised of people from the Ministry or perhaps… Death Eaters?"

Draco's eyes widened, "Watch your mouth, Seraphina." And with that, he walked out, followed by Blaise.

"Or what?" Athenys added with a smirk after the door closed behind them.

"Or you'll be in huge trouble, is what he meant." Pansy added.

"Athenys, seriously, you really do need to watch your mouth!" Daphne said.

Athenys looked at Pansy, who looked angry with her, and the rest of the train ride was spent silently.

Not very far into her second year, Athenys slowly started realising what Draco had meant by 'certain things', with Mrs Norris's attack and Colin Creevey petrified. After Professor Binns's once in a lifetime interesting lesson about the legend of the Chamber of Secrets, the story had spread everywhere and the school was left buzzing about whether this legend was true or not. Every time Athenys would enter the common room, the hot topic was always predictions of who would get attacked next, or what the monster in the Chamber was.

A few days later Athenys had put her name down on the list of people staying at Hogwarts over Christmas, as her mother had suddenly sent a letter saying that she was going on a work trip to Australia. This left Athenys in a bad mood for a while. Of course, she absolutely loved Hogwarts, but spending Christmas with her mother was something she was looking forward to. Something that slightly lifted her mood was the Duelling Club that was announced.

"You're going, right?" Pansy had asked her on the way to Potions.

"Yeah, why not, it'll be interesting."

"Yeah, it'll be interesting to duel some of those Gryffindors," said Theo as he turned up behind them.

"Or a certain Hufflepuff." Pansy teased, as Theo's smirk immediately turned upside down, and Athenys can't help but laugh along with Pansy. During Charms when they were practicing the Skurge Scouring Charm, Theo was unfortunately partnered with Ernie Macmillan, which ended with each of them having ectoplasm all over each other and swelled up noses, ears and eyelids.

Eventually, the day of the Duelling Club came and everyone in the common room were talking about who would be running the club.

"Hopefully it's Snape, free points for Slytherin!" Goyle shouted as everyone laughed and agreed, and Athenys silently nodded her head. Slytherin could do with a few extra points right now, fair or not.

Entering the room, Athenys felt her stomach weigh down in disappointment as she saw Lockhart guiding the students to gather round. Standing in the side was Snape, looking unpleased.

A few minutes into the Duelling class, Athenys was shooting 'Expelliarmus!' repeatedly at her opponent, Padma Patil, until Draco and Harry Potter were called as volunteers to show defensive spells. Athenys moved back with Pansy to the front row, where Draco and Harry were facing each other, wands ready. When Draco shouted 'Serpensortia!' and the crowd screamed as the snake charge at Justin Finch-Fletchley, Athenys felt the hairs stand up on the nape of her neck, with a chilling feeling when Harry started to speak. Except, he wasn't speaking… he was _hissing_ a weird language. As much as Athenys was shaken, she was intrigued. Surely, Harry was actually speaking to the snake. She listened closer, which wasn't hard as other than Harry's hissing, there wasn't a drop of sound in the room. Then, she noticed, that the snake ever so slightly backed off. Finally, Snape got rid of the snake and everyone started moving out of the room, giving Harry a wide berth.

"Seems like he's not the perfect hero everyone claimed him to be! I mean, he actually egged the snake on Fletchley!" Pansy shouted, clearly wanting the trio to hear her.

"The snake backed off after he talked to it." Athenys tried to explain.

"Weren't you looking closely, Athenys? He was obviously telling the snake to keep going!"

Athenys just sighed, and walked straight to the library to avoid the common room gossip, while her mind was whirring. So obviously Harry is a Parselmouth, but how? The only known Parselmouth was Slytherin, that's why their house emblem is a snake. Could Harry possibly be the heir of Slytherin? And that would mean… he was planting the attacks. No, no, surely not.

Athenys spent the next day at the library to finish off her work, but annoyed by the Hufflepuffs's chatter, she decided to leave. Walking down the corridor, she spotted Harry walked her way. He kept his head down as he walked past her, looking very nervous. Athenys continued to walk, until she sighed and stopped in her tracks.

"Harry!" He spun around, surprised, as Athenys walked up to him.

"Why do you look so shocked?" Athenys asked.

"Well, uh… I just thought-"

"That I'd be scared of you like the rest of the school?"

"To be honest, yeah."

"Well, I'm not."

Harry raised an eyebrow, "Thanks, but why?"

"I was looking closely that day, the snake backed off slightly after you talked to it."

"You saw that?" Harry moved closer.

"Yeah, I mean, if anyone really was looking closely, it's not that hard to miss."

"Try explaining that to the whole school."

Athenys smiled, "How do you get it anyway, are you related to Salazar? I mean, I thought it there really was an heir to Slytherin they would actually be in Slytherin."

Harry's expression turned panicked, "No, definitely not. And I'm not a killer."

"I didn't say that."

"I know."

An awkward silence followed, and Athenys couldn't help but feel sorry for the kid. For the whole school to think you're a killer that you're not, must be horrible. Especially when only last year everyone thought of you as a hero.

"Look, I just wanted to say…" Athenys didn't know what to say, but managed to find her words after a few seconds, "I just wanted to say that I believe you. I just think that it's a phase, and everyone will be over it once the truth comes out. Surely, the professors will find out who is really doing the attacks."

Harry looked surprised, then smiled slightly, "Wow, thanks, Athenys… really."

"I'll see you later, then."

"Yeah… see you."

It seems, that Athenys's words are useless against the entire school, especially after Fletchley's attack. However, as the end of the school year came about, her words turned true. Word had spread around the school about Harry, Ron and Lockhart in the Chamber of Secrets, and Harry was no longer the enemy. Harry seemed grateful for Athenys's words that day, as on the last day of second year he approached her before boarding the train.

"Hey, Athenys!"

"Hey," she smiled.

"Just wanted to say, hope you have a good holiday."

"Thanks, you too, Harry!"

"See you in third year, then."

"Yep, hopefully you actually get to school properly by train this time."

They laughed, and waved goodbye to each other as they went to different parts of the train, and Athenys found the compartment with Daphne and Pansy.

"What held you up?" Pansy asked.

"I left my quill set in the dorm," Athenys lied, "Went back to get that." For the rest of the train ride they talked about the Chamber of Secrets, the house cup and holiday plans. Pansy, as usual, was boasting about her expensive family trip around Europe, but Athenys was just glad to see her mother.


	6. Dreams and Dementors

Helena found Athenys near the fireplace, curled up on the couch with a large book in her lap, which the girl seemed to be deeply indulged in. So indulged, in fact, that she didn't hear Helena shouting her name several times until her head snapped up when Helena entered the living room.

"Athenys!"

"Mum?" said Athenys, looking back down at her book.

"Did you not hear me before? I was calling you!"

"I was here the whole time."

"You went to bed three hours ago!"

Athenys closed her book, sighed and stood up, "Couldn't fall asleep. So, I just did my homework."

Helena folded her arms, "It's because you had that two-hour nap in the afternoon."

Athenys smiled to herself, because she knew that wasn't the reason, "Fine, mum, I'll go to sleep now."

She walked past her mum into her bedroom, cleared her bed of the letters she received from Daphne, Pansy and Theo, and turned off her light. She could hear her mother walking to her bedroom, and waited for a few minutes after she heard the light click off in Helena's bedroom. Then, she quickly got her torch and opened the book to the page she was on before. The truth was, that Athenys couldn't sleep because of something that she came across while doing her homework. Part of her homework was to write an essay on witch-burning. She must have read that paragraph about the Flame-Freezing Charm at least ten times in _A History of Magic._ The paragraph stated how in historical times when witches used to be burned at the stake by the muggles, they would simply just perform a Flame-Freezing Charm, which protects them from the flames and causes them to feel a ticklish feeling instead.

Athenys couldn't help but wonder about these muggles and their fear of magic in those times. Their fear and hatred was so powerful that the punishment was being burned alive, even though it luckily didn't work. But what if people were mistaken as witches, or framed as being one? Athenys shuddered at the thought. This made her curious about Salazar Slytherin. Could his intentions be justified? Maybe his rage towards muggle-borns was because of his anger towards these same muggles, who were alive during the time that he would have been.

Athenys shook her head to get the thought out. There really is no good enough reason to hate muggles and muggle-borns, no matter what they did centuries ago. People have evolved, and the magical world is hidden for good reason.

This, however, wasn't the only thing keeping her awake. As soon as she read about the Flame-Freezing Charm, her mind flashbacked to when she was five years old.

 _As usual, Athenys came home from school with a skip in her step, and Helena wondered which kid she had placed a cockroach on their head or in their bag this time. Of course, she was glad that the school bullying hardly affected her daughter, but the way that her little girl was handling them was just a little odd._

 _It was almost Halloween, and there was a chill hanging in the air. Winter seems to be coming earlier this year. Covering their faces with their scarves, Athenys and Helena arrived home, and Helena went to the bathroom to get Athenys's bath ready. When the tub filled up, she called Athenys._

" _It's a bubble bath!" Athenys squealed, and instantly got into the tub._

" _I'll be right back, ok, Athenys?"_

" _Ok mum."_

 _Helena left for the kitchen to make something for Athenys to eat, until a few moments later she heard the tap opening from the bathroom. She immediately went to the bathroom, opened the door and… everything was normal. Her daughter was in the bathtub, playing with the bubbles. She must have just imagined the noise. Shaking her head, she walked towards her daughter with her towel._

" _That's enough for today, isn't it?" Helena asked._

" _Ok mum," smiled Athenys._

" _Alright then, let me just-" Helena hissed in pain as her hand touched the water._

" _Mum, what's wrong?" Athenys asked. Helena drew out her finger, which had gone pink from the hot water._

" _Athenys, get out of there!" Athenys immediately got out of the bath and changed into her clothes with a confused look etched on her face._

" _Mum, did you get burned?"_

 _Helena looked at her daughter, then her hand, "How did that water become so hot? And why aren't you burned?"_

" _Mum I'm sorry."_

" _Tell me, Athenys."_

" _I wanted a warmer bath, so I drained the water, put the bubble water in and refilled it with warm water."_

" _Honey, this isn't warm… this is really hot water."_

" _Well I didn't feel it. It was nice and warm for me."_

 _Helena had just assumed that it was Athenys's magical powers coming through, just like it had started a year ago with the vase crashing and making flowers bloom in the palm of her hand. Little did she know that Athenys was destined for much, much more._

Athenys had almost forgotten about that moment, since it just felt like the many other weird things that happened to her. But she also had a memory when she actually got burned slightly by boiling water once when trying to make tea. Maybe there's a limit of how much heat she can handle. She has had many encounters where she could touch and handle things that were too hot for others to touch. Maybe she could have passed it off as the accidental magic that every kid does before they go to Hogwarts and learns to control it. But it still happened even at Hogwarts, even though she hid it from others very well. She didn't even know anything about a Flame-Freezing Charm, which was quite advanced magic, so it can't be accidental. It was just something that happened to _her,_ and no-one else. Finally, after much thought, Athenys fell asleep.

It must have been because her mind was so busy with thoughts, that she dreamt the most frightful thing that night.

Her mind drifted to a large, cavernous room, with stone walls and columns. She started walking forwards on the marble floor, and her footsteps echoed amongst the pin-drop silence. Her vision was blinded by the rays of sunlight that was coming in from the other end of the hall. She covered her eyes, and kept walking forward, until the image became clearer, and clearer. Amongst the blurring light, she could make out more columns which led to arches in the middle of the hall. On and on she kept on walking, until she saw, in the middle of the wall at the far back, a stained-glass window with a seven-pointed star on it, and below it was something rather odd, but fascinating. There, resting atop the black stone steps was a black-silver throne.

The throne seemed to be made of many swords forged together, which fanned out at the top. It stood tall, forming a long shadow on the marble floor, and on the middle of the seat was an egg. The egg was much like the other eggs that she had seen in her other dreams. It was black, large and scaly, definitely a dragon egg. Slowly, Athenys reached her hands out and climbed the black stone steps. The closer she got, the more energy she felt from the egg, and her hand was inches away until she heard a scratching noise behind her. She spun around to face the large, fiery orange eyes of a dragon, who opened its mouth to a ball of fire which exploded and engulfed her in flames as Athenys screamed. She woke up, drenched in sweat, as Helena came running into her room.

* * *

The rest of the summer holidays felt like a blur to Athenys, as it went by so fast. Although she didn't speak of it to anyone, not even Helena or Abraxas, Athenys was always troubled her recurring dreams of dragon eggs. Could it be a sign of danger to come? On the first of September, Athenys arrived at King's Cross Station as usual with Abraxas and Helena. Since she was used to it now, she ran through the brick wall by herself and found an empty compartment in the train. It was still quite early, so hardly anyone was in the train.

In the last minute before the train left, Theo arrived.

"Where is everyone?"

"I was going to ask you," Athenys replied with a smile.

"How were holidays?" Theo asked, as he sat down opposite her.

"Pretty good, glad to be at Hogwarts again though. You?"

Theo's smile faded, and Athenys instantly regretted asking the question. She had heard stories about how rough Theo's life was at home with his father. Immediately Athenys changed the topic.

"I really wonder where everyone else is. Hope they didn't miss the train."

"Nah don't think so. I'll go check, be right back."

Theo left the compartment, and Athenys was left alone to her thoughts. It was dark outside, and raining heavily. A few minutes went by until Theo came back.

"I found them, they're in another compartment down the other side of the train. I think we missed them coz they came much earlier."

"Oh ok, yeah, I didn't really check other compartments when I came," Athenys replied.

"You'll see them when we get off."

The train started rattling, and unable to keep his balance, Theo quickly took a seat.

"Draco was complaining about Weasley, I think they got into an argument but couldn't say much because there was this other person there with them."

"Another person? Who?"

"Dunno, they said that it could be our new professor."

Suddenly, the train started slowing down, and the rattling got worse, until it jolted to a stop and the lamps turned off.

Athenys looked out the window, "We can't be there yet!"

"What do you see?"

"Nothing, just darkness. Don't move, we'll trip over each other."

Athenys suddenly felt a chill and moved away from the window and curled up. The sudden drop in temperature caused both her and Theo's teeth to chatter in the eerie silence, along with their rattling breaths. She heard Theo shuffling towards the door, probably to see what happened, until he fell back, and through the moonlight Athenys saw a gliding, dark cloaked creature entering their compartment. It was probably the most frightening creature she had ever seen. As it drew closer she felt the cold close in around her, and when it's hooded head sucked in a breath she felt the cold reach into her chest. Everything around her faded, and she heard screams, her own screams in her head, until the image of the dragon's fire breath exploded in her mind and she let out a real scream until her voice went hoarse.

Next thing she knew she was laying on the floor, the lights had been turned on and the trolley lady was standing next to Theo. She immediately looked at Theo, and spoke, despite feeling her throat close in, "Don't tell anyone."

Theo stood frozen, mouth slightly open, but eventually managed to nod. The trolley lady moved closer and leaned over her, handing her chocolate, "My goodness! What happened dear?"

"I have no idea," Athenys squeaked out.

"Well, you'll have to speak to Professor Dumbledore about this."

Athenys straightened up, "I don't need to! I mean, he'll find out anyway, right?"

"I mean your particular incident, dear."

Athenys frowned, "Me? Why mine specifically?"

"You were the only one who fainted, Athenys," Theo said with a hint of fear.

Just then Draco barged in followed by Crabbe and Goyle, face paler than ever, "Did you see those… those _things?_ "

"What are they?" Athenys asked.

"Father told me about them. Dementors. I've never seen one before thought until now. Why are you on the floor?"

Athenys got up with the help of the trolley lady, head spinning, "Tripped over in the dark."

"You'll be fine right, dear?" The trolley lady asked.

"Yes, thank you," Athenys managed a small smile.

"We heard screaming from this way. Thought it was you," Draco said as the trolley lady walked out.

Theo spoke up, "Oh, yeah, um… we heard it too, probably from the next compartment."

"Oh," Draco sat down next to Theo, "Did you hear though? Potter _fainted._ Like literally fell and _fainted._ I heard Longbottom talking about it."

Athenys and Theo exchanged looks, and unfortunately Draco noticed.

"What? Don't you think it's funny? The brave _Potter_ fainted!"

"Oh yeah, just a little weird though," Theo tried to pass it off.

Draco stood up, "Well, we're about ten minutes away from Hogwarts I think. May as well deal with his little incident when we get off," he shared smirks with Goyle.

Athenys shook her head, "Leave it alone, Draco."

He slowly turned to her, smirk turned to sneer, "Couldn't care less about your soft spot for Potter, Seraphina."

"It's not because of that."

"Then what is it, did you faint as well?"

Theo stood up and grabbed Draco's arm, "Draco what are you talking about? Come on, you should change into your robes."

He gave her a cold stare, and she returned it, until he shook Theo's arm off and left along with his two sidekicks. Theo sighed, and sat down.

"Theo, you see why you can't tell anyone, right?"

"Of course, I won't tell anyone. But you should tell someone, maybe Snape."

"No, no. Definitely not."

"Then Dumbledore."

"Thought you weren't a fan of Dumbledore."

"Whatever. He's still the Headmaster. He'll know what to do."

Athenys tilted her head back, "Maybe I just won't tell anyone, can't be a big deal anyway."

"Not a big deal, really? You're the only one who's probably managed to scare off a dementor just by screaming, and you and Potter were the only ones who were attacked by them."

Scared them off? "Theo, can you tell me exactly what happened?"

"Exactly what I just told you. It came towards you, face really close, and then you screamed and it just… quickly glided away. Shouldn't you be the one telling me what happened? Coz from what I've heard, Dementors can only be cast away by a certain spell."

Athenys covered her face in her hands, head throbbing, "I don't know, Theo."

* * *

The next morning when she walked into the Great Hall, Athenys almost rolled her eyes as she spotted Pansy waving at her to join her at the table. It really wasn't a good time for her to listen to Pansy's gossip, however she plastered a smile on her face and sat beside the girl. She immediately noticed the separate pieces of parchment everyone was holding.

"We got our timetables!" Pansy said, noticing where Athenys was looking.

"Oh," she was about to turn around and look for Professor Snape, when a deep voice started talking behind her.

"Miss Seraphina. Took our time waking up, did we?" Snape drawled.

"I got caught up, Sir."

"Best get used to waking up on time, Miss Seraphina, especially if you are taking… extra lessons?"

"Extra lessons?"

Snape flicked his wrist and showed her two envelopes, one obviously her timetable and the other one underneath it. She slowly took the envelopes with curiosity, and started to open the new envelope first as Snape walked away. She was glad that Pansy was focussing on complaining about Hagrid being the new Care of Magical Creatures Professor to Daphne, and too busy to notice the new letter. She quickly scanned to the bottom of the parchment and saw that it's from Professor Lupin.

 _Dear Miss Seraphina,_

 _Please meet me at nine o'clock this evening for an extra lesson for you, as requested by Professor Dumbledore. You will find out what the lesson is for when you arrive._

 _Professor Lupin_

Extra lessons already on the first day? She sighed and quickly put away the envelopes while on the other side she heard Draco taunting Potter about the 'fainting incident' on the train.


	7. Outcasts

Athenys knocked on the door of the classroom three times, yet there was no answer, then was about to knock again when the door opened and Lupin stood in the doorway.

"Ah, Athenys, come on in." She walked in and noticed a large trunk sitting in the corner of the room.

"Erm, Professor, I was wondering what this lesson is for?"

Lupin walked to his desk and motioned for her to sit down. She shuffled over and noticed the blocks of chocolate sitting on his table as he also took a seat.

"Well, Athenys, Professor Dumbledore spoke to me about your incident yesterday on the train, which he heard about from the trolley lady, who was there at the time the dementor was there?"

"Yes, she was, and so was Theo." Oh no, what if this spread to the rest of the school, just like Harry's incident did? "Does anyone else know?"

"No, you need not worry. Professor Dumbledore spoke with Mr Nott yesterday as well, he agreed to keep this incident quiet." She released a breath, "However, there are other things you need to worry about, especially Dementors."

She interrupted, "Why was it only me and Harry who were attacked?"

Lupin wrung his hands together, "Well yes, the only people attacked were you and Harry, yet the reasons as to why each of you were targeted are very different from each other. Harry's reason I can figure out, and I wish to only enclose that information with him. Yours, however, I still cannot. Especially since you had managed to send them away just from a scream?"

"Well, yeah, except I don't really know why."

She felt quite irritated not knowing why it was her. Was it because she had a speciality? Or a weakness?

"Our lesson today isn't on talking about why they attacked you," Lupin continued, "It's about-"

"Fighting the dementors?" A silence followed, eventually broken by Lupin.

"Defending yourself from them."

"Is it hard?"

"Quite a complicated piece of magic, yes. I don't expect you to get it the first time, but-"

"Well I'll give it a shot." She blurted out, and Lupin's mouth hinted a smile as he paused, then stood up and walked towards the trunk.

"Inside here, Athenys, is a boggart. Do you know what a boggart is?"

She remembered the time she went to Abraxas's house and he explained what a boggart is, since he apparently wanted to get rid of one in his house.

"Yes, I've heard what it is."

Lupin nodded, "Good, good. Now in here there is boggart, and once I open it the boggart will transform into a dementor. This is what we'll be practising with for the next few lessons."

He waited for her to nod and continued, "The spell you have to use is _Expecto Patronum._ "

"Expecto Patronum," She echoed, "But what makes it such a difficult spell?"

"The difficult part is your mindset, and actually conjuring the spell. Done correctly, it will reveal your Patronus, which will take up a form, most likely an animal. To do this, you have to think strongly of your happiest memory."

The next few minutes she listened extremely intently to Lupin as he explained about Patronuses. She was so determined on proving herself with this. She took four attempts and fails each time, followed by Lupin handing her chocolate each time. However, she did see wisps of silvery blue from her wand the fourth time. She nibbled on the chocolate and Lupin insisted that they stop for now, but each time her failure fuelled her, making her more and more determined to achieve this.

She stood up for the fifth time and concentrated on her happiest memory as Lupin opened the trunk and a black mass of robes and wisps formed out of it and she shouted, "EXPECTO PATRONUM!" She felt a gush of air and her wand vibrating as she watched a bubble-like shield of silver erupt from her wand and she held it for a few seconds, until she noticed a small body forming, however it disappeared before she can see what it was, as the dementor went back into the trunk and Lupin shut the lid down.

"Well done! That was excellent!"

She couldn't help the smile which broke across her face and the feeling of pride which glowed within herself. She actually did it, although she was _exhausted._

"Very nice job, Athenys. For your first lesson you've done extremely well, especially having your Patronus starting to take shape!"

"Did you see what it was, Professor? The shape?"

Professor Lupin handed her a huge piece of chocolate, "The shape wasn't clear enough for me to see what it was, however I'm pretty sure I saw wings."

After a few seconds of catching her breath she gathered her things and walked back to her dormitory after bidding goodnight to the Professor.

* * *

"Honestly, I _can't_ believe we have an oaf teaching Care of Magical Creatures," Malfoy said, and he didn't care to keep his voice down while walking to class, "This will be the first thing I tell Father in my next letter to him!"

"I don't think he'll be that bad," Athenys said to Daphne, making sure Malfoy would hear, "I mean he seems to know a lot about the subject."

"Of course, he would!" Pansy joined in, "He's probably _lived_ with creatures most of his life!" This was followed by roars of laughter by her classmates.

Despite how horrible she felt inside about Hagrid, she knew there was no point in arguing with them, so she just shook her head and walked away from the group, desperately hoping that Hagrid's first lesson wouldn't be a disaster.

But of course, it was ruined thanks to Malfoy.

The next few days the only thing she heard the Slytherins talking about was Malfoy's incident with Buckbeak.

"Of course, I won't be able to do any homework in this state," Malfoy whined while they were all in the common room.

"Oh Draco, I can't believe he wasn't fired!" Pansy said while stroking his arm.

"Believe me, Father will have that oaf out of this school in no time!"

Athenys was trying to block their voices out of her head, since she was trying to study, but she couldn't hold it in much longer.

"You _do_ realise that Hagrid clearly told us that those creatures are easily offended, don't you?"

"That beast doesn't need an excuse to attack anyone. I hardly did anything!" Malfoy fought back.

"You called it an ugly great brute! Maybe if you weren't so stuck up, you would've noticed that what you said was insulting!"

Athenys felt her face become really hot, and Malfoy's pale face had become a dark shade of crimson. Both were staring at each other with fury while the entire common room had fallen silent, looking at the scene in front of them, until the silence was broken by Pansy.

"Come on, Draco, you should go rest." She placed a hand on his shoulder but he shook it away and walked to the couch by the fireplace to join Theo.

Athenys broke away from the glare that Pansy was giving her and looked back down at her book. The next hour or so no one talked to her, and she was careful not to make eye contact with anyone. She couldn't figure out why she would even try to knock some sense into any of them. They would never change their ways. Eventually she felt the room go silent, and looked around to see that the only person remaining in the common room besides her was Draco. He seemed deep in thought while staring at the fireplace, and the flames revealed the softened features of his face. There were no signs of sneering or smirking. It was just… him. However, from his expression she could tell his pride was clearly hurt. It was quite the rare sight, and Athenys started to feel a little bad about shouting earlier.

Although, she couldn't help but wonder, why would he be so affected by her insult? It wasn't like him to get so offended by what other people say, since the worshipping he gets from the likes of Crabbe, Goyle and Pansy were enough to feed his pompous demeanour ten-fold.

Swallowing her pride, she walked towards him and cleared her throat, "You know, I would say I'm sorry but you can't deny that I had a point there."

"What do you want, Seraphina?" He drawled without looking at her.

"I want to knock some sense into you."

He scoffed, "Try doing that to yourself."

She frowned, "Wow, you really are stuck up."

He stood up and walked to her until he was towering over her, "Honestly, Seraphina, who's side are you on?"

"Why does there have to be a side on everything!"

"Because we're Slytherins! We have our own side! Ever since this school was built we've been the outcasts, in case you haven't noticed after being in this school for three years already!"

She had never heard of Draco talking about Slytherin house like this. He had always mentioned it as the best house with the most prestigious people, but never anything as low as 'outcasts'.

"We became outcasts because we _made_ ourselves the outcasts."

He mocked a tiny laugh, "You have no idea. You don't notice how Gryffindor is always glorified or how the other two houses worship them? Honestly, it's rather pathetic. Not that I would care anyway, I couldn't care less about any of them."

Athenys was left speechless. She couldn't deny that what he was saying wasn't entirely false.

He continued, "But then again what would you know? You're just a half-blood. You didn't grow up knowing the true state of things."

Athenys crossed her arms and scoffed, "It always comes back to that, doesn't it?" she spat, "Muggles, half-bloods, pure-bloods. Always the same circle of topics."

"Of course, it does, Seraphina. It has everything to do with it."

"How? How is it that every conversation I have with you has to do with you hating Muggles?"

"Did you even do your homework? Did you not see about the witch-burnings?"

"Honestly Draco, that was centuries ago!"

"Oh, you don't think a similar thing is happening now? Haven't you wondered why this stupid Ministry forces the entire magical community to live in hiding?"

The worst feeling overcame Athenys, as she realised that she couldn't argue against him. What he was saying was making sense, but she would never tell him that.

He suddenly lowered his voice, bringing his face up close to hers, "You just wait, until this muggle-loving Ministry is taken over by someone who will change everything."

Athenys narrowed her eyes, "You sound so sure about that."

"Because I _am_ sure about it," he whispered, as Athenys felt her stomach drop.

* * *

"Are you ready, Athenys?"

"Yes, I am." It was her first attempt for her second lesson and she decided that she wasn't going to leave the lesson until she found out what her Patronus was.

"On three then. One, two, three…"

"Expecto Patronum!" Only a few wisps came out of her wand, "Expecto PATRONUM!" Yet again only wisps, and she began to black out, "Expec.." and all turned black.

She woke up feeling immense disappointment and immediately reached for the chocolate in Lupin's hand.

"It's OK, Athenys, it's only your first attempt for today."

"I'll try again."

He walked to the trunk and counted to three, as she gained her balance and focused, hard. The trunk opened, but this time she was ready.

"EXPECTO PATRONUM!" She felt her wand vibrate and saw it producing masses of silvery blue. She suddenly felt a surge of wind as a small ball starts to form, which produced wings, then claws and finally fully formed, then disappeared before she could admire its beauty for too long. She heard the thud of the trunk lid, and Lupin looked up at her, eyes wide.

"Dragon. Your Patronus is a dragon."

"A baby dragon," Her eyes were still wide with astonishment, "It was beautiful."

"Indeed," Lupin stood up and smiled, "Very beautiful."

* * *

 **Note: So sorry about the super late chapter update. I had to wait until the holidays to write this chapter and parts of the next few chapters to come. Hope you enjoyed this chapter, and thank you so much to the people who reviewed, especially DanteVirgil09 for the tips and lovely comments!**


	8. Power

**Author's note: Hey there! So, for this chapter I tried something new with the perspectives. Until this point in the story almost every scene was written in Athenys's perspective, because she is the main character of the story. (Two scenes were in Helena's POV) However, I'm thinking of adding a few scenes written in other character's points of view, since they will become more important to the storyline later on.**

 **Also, sorry about the super late updates! Uni work is piling up really bad** **. But anyway, hope you're all enjoying the story! And thanks for the lovely reviews!**

Theo tapped her shoulder lightly, "Athenys!"

She had fallen asleep on the couch in the common room, parchment and quill in hand, which was resting against her chubby cheek and had left ink marks on her face. She mumbled something incoherent and cuddled up even further, so Theo tapped her shoulder harder.

"Athenys, wake up! We have to go to breakfast soon."

He couldn't help but feel deep appreciation for the witch in front of him. After all, she was meant to be working on her History of Magic essay, but instead had insisted on talking with Theo throughout the night. She had put her work aside and missed out on sleep because of him.

Last night was one of the worst nightmare episodes Theo had had in a while. He woke drenched in sweat after seeing flashes of his mother's face and twisted dreams of his father. Looking at his watch he had seen that it had only just passed midnight, and not wishing to see those images again, he decided to go to the common room, hoping to clear his mind. Luckily for him, Athenys was there, scribbling away on her parchment. He was reluctant to disturb her, but before he knew it, they were sharing stories about their parents and the Dark Lord while chomping away at the Honeydukes sweets Athenys had with her, completely unaware of how much time was passing by.

The only people he had ever talked to about his father was Draco and Daphne. It was one of the only serious conversations that Theo ever had with Draco, and even that was before they started attending Hogwarts. They were barely nine-years-old when Theo broke to pieces in front of Draco after the events that took place the night before. The way Draco had consoled him that day made Theo seriously wonder what happened to his friend. It was a side to Draco he never saw again, which was replaced by his sneering veneer ever since, but Theo silently hoped that other side of Draco would reappear one day.

Although Theo dreaded the holidays when he would have to return home to his father and become reminiscent of his mother's death all over again, he had grown accustomed to the abusive nature of the Nott household. He no longer hid in his room, no longer cried himself to sleep, and no longer reached out to his friends, hoping that their laughter would fade away his emotional scars. As he grew older he became more of a solitary boy. He would occasionally join in with his fellow Slytherins whenever they sniggered at the Muggle-borns, and it seemed that Daphne was the only one who knew deep down that in reality, he had let go of the beliefs about pureblood supremacy long ago, despite being treated as a superior by the other Slytherins. Hence, the fact that Athenys Seraphina was a half-blood didn't bother him at all.

Finally, Athenys woke up and grumbled, "I'd be seriously happy to miss breakfast if I could get another half an hour of sleep."

"Well, you can sleep all you want tonight after handing that in," Theo grinned as he watched Athenys pack her books and look up tiredly at him.

"True, unless Snape decides to give another essay today," she slumped her bad over her shoulder, "Anyway, meet you in the Great Hall?"

"Sure, see you." He watched as Athenys disappeared into her dorm and he finally started making his way to the Great Hall.

* * *

 _*7 hours earlier*_

Athenys was seriously frustrated at herself for falling asleep during History of Magic when instead she could've been working on the essay that she was furiously scribbling on at that moment. But then again, who could blame her, as more than half the class fell asleep during Professor Binns's monotonous lectures. Plus, she had had trouble balancing her homework with the extra lessons she was having with Lupin, especially since most of the time when she had tried to work while being alone in her dorm, she had instead ended up practicing her Patronus and staring at it until it died out.

She was nearing the end of her essay when she heard footsteps coming from the boy's dormitory, and saw Theo approaching her, looking slightly shaken.

"Theo, wha-"

"Bad dream," he interrupted and sat down at the couch opposite her as he stared at the many candy wrappers and unwrapped sweets she had lying around, "Midnight cravings?"

"More like coping mechanisms," Athenys sighed as she pointed at her essay.

She saw Theo's eyes wander over her writing and his brows furrow, "History of Magic? You never leave things till last minute."

"First time for everything," Athenys said weakly, and Theo smiled, though it never reached his eyes.

A short silence overcame them, and eventually Theo broke it, "Well, I'll leave you to it then."

He started to stand up before Athenys called out.

"Wait!" Athenys couldn't help but notice the line of sweat on Theo's forehead, his ruffled dark hair, his more-than-usual slumped shoulders and the dark shadows under his blue eyes, which had a haunted look in them. She had a feeling that despite his mumbled response of 'Gonna try sleep now', he probably would stay awake all night.

Athenys nodded her head towards the couch, "Sit down, you only just got here."

He shuffled a bit, "Oh no… I don't want to disturb you. And I'm fine now," Athenys raised her eyebrows at this, "I'll just try and go to sleep."

"Trust me, you won't be disturbing me, I've been looking for a distraction ever since I started this essay," her tone softened, "And you can tell me about your nightmares. It might help to let it out."

Theo looked down and started fidgeting with his sweater.

Athenys sighed, "You can trust me."

He sighed, and reluctantly sat down, as she handed him a bunch of sweets. She listened patiently as he described his dreams, and eventually they started talking about each other's parents, as well as how Abraxas had become sort of a second father to her.

"You know, apparently Abraxas was named after Draco's grandfather," Theo pointed out.

Athenys raised an eyebrow, "They were that close?"

"Yeah, the Malfoys were super close with the Blishwicks, and so naturally Lucius Malfoy and Abraxas Blishwick were best friends."

Athenys frowned at his use of 'were', "Why aren't they friends anymore? I mean, Uncle Abraxas is one of the nicest Slytherins I've met."

"From what I've heard, Lucius had an argument with his two friends who had apparently drifted away from their pureblood beliefs," Theo whispered.

"Two friends?" Athenys whispered back as she started chewing on a Bertie Botts Every Flavoured Bean, which was, unfortunately, spinach flavoured, and she immediately spat it out.

"Yep, Abraxas and…" Theo looked up as if trying to remember the name, "Ah yep, Dominic."

Athenys tensed. Dominic. That was the name that Lucius Malfoy had said when he mentioned her father on her first day at King's Cross Station.

Theo continued, not noticing how Athenys had started to bounce her leg with nervousness, "Oh yeah, Lucius and Abraxas were also friends with someone called Dominic. Don't know his last name though, since he's hardly ever mentioned. Must be a pureblood though, if he was best friends with Lucius Malfoy."

It seemed that Theo didn't know that Dominic may be Athenys's father, which means that hardly anyone would know, except for the Malfoys. Athenys was burning with desire to find out more about this Dominic, however realised that Theo really didn't seem to know any more than what he told her just then, and she didn't want to push him for information in case he got suspicious. If there was one person who knew, it would be Lucius Malfoy.

With this thought in mind, she directed the conversation elsewhere, "Does your father and Lucius Malfoy still have hope about Voldem-"

"Don't say the name so loud!" Theo looked around frantically, and Athenys felt her cheeks warm up as she noticed that her voice had indeed become much louder.

Theo recovered from his shock and continued, "His followers call him the Dark Lord, and you obviously know by now who at Hogwarts has parents who were Death Eaters."

Athenys nodded, "Yeah, pretty much."

"Well, most of them, including my father, managed to slip away from being sentenced to Azkaban, but I'm pretty sure they believe that the Dark Lord might be trying to get back," Theo leaned closer to her and quietened his voice even further, "But the Malfoys weren't always so positive. In fact, between you and me, the Malfoys had secretly believed that Potter would take his place one day."

Athenys almost choked on the liquorice wand she was chewing on absentmindedly, " _Potter?_ "

"Yeah, wicked, isn't it? I mean, as much as I dislike the guy, I seriously can't imagine him becoming the next Dark Lord," Theo rested his face as if in deep thought, "Although, no one ever thought that the Dark Lord would become what he is when he went to school. He was basically every teacher's pet."

Hearing this, Athenys frowned darkly, "Wait, how do you know that?"

Theo's face darkened, "My father attended Hogwarts with him."

Athenys's jaw dropped slightly. It shouldn't have been too much of a shock that Lord Voldemort had once attended Hogwarts, but just imagining what the most feared wizard of all time would have been like at school was truly mind-boggling.

"In case you were wondering, he only became Lord Voldemort a while after leaving Hogwarts. In fact, he was Head Boy and all," Theo stated, "Of course, Father didn't tell me all this stuff. He told me parts of it when he was boasting about how his great Dark Lord will one day return, but most of the details I got from eavesdropping whenever someone visited us, especially the Malfoys."

Theo leaned forward and cleaned up the candy wrappers lying all over the couches, "Anyway, I better get back to bed. You going to sleep?"

"Yeah, should be finished soon." Well, wasn't she completely wrong? However, she really didn't have the heart to say anything else since Theo would probably start feeling guilty, and although she would be losing some sleep, she didn't regret that conversation at all. Despite the mixed feelings of fear and anger she had towards this so-called Voldemort, Athenys couldn't help but become completely absorbed into his life story. She doubted that the rest of Hogwarts would know half the things that Theo had told her about the younger Dark Lord. But most importantly, he had given her vital information about her father.

Theo started walking towards the steps leading to his dormitory, but paused and looked back, "Athenys?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks… for this," he smiled, which this time reached his eyes.

Athenys smiled back at him, "Anytime."

Two hours after Theo had left, Athenys finally finished and tried to lift herself off the couch, but instead fell asleep right then and there, and that was how Theo found her that morning.

* * *

As Athenys walked to her lesson with Lupin, her mind was whirring with ideas about her conversation with Theo last night. She felt guilty to the core about not telling him that Dominic may be her father, since he had opened up to her about his family problems and secrets. However, she couldn't risk anyone knowing yet, since she could be mistaken, or if the Malfoys somehow came to know that she found out about her father, they may try their best to conceal that information from her. The Malfoys were obviously very secretive about their relationship with Dominic, since even Theo didn't know about it, and Theo seemed to know almost everything that his father knew, thanks to his eavesdropping skills and ability to string information together. He was definitely a very clever and cunning person.

When Athenys approached the classroom, the door was already wide open with Lupin inside.

"Ah Athenys, you're a little early today," Lupin said cheerfully, or at least tried to say cheerfully, even though Athenys could clearly see that he was quite ill.

"Sorry, Professor. Hope I'm not too early," Athenys placed her bag on the table next to her and took out her wand.

Lupin waved his hand in the air, as if dismissing the idea, "No, not at all. In fact, the earlier the better. You've improved drastically during the last couple of lessons, even being able to produce a corporeal

Patronus in our last lesson. Now, if this lesson goes well, and you're confident with your abilities, then this may be the last lesson we take."

With this, Athenys felt a number of mixed feelings. The Patronus lessons with Lupin were what Athenys had mostly looked forward to during the past couple of weeks. However, she couldn't help but feel quite triumphant about her Patronus.

"Sir, I was wondering," Athenys started as she twirled her wand between her fingers with nervousness, "Have you found out anything about the train incident?"

"Ah," Lupin shook his head, "Unfortunately I haven't. Although Professor Dumbledore and I were thinking along the same lines.

Athenys straightened up, "What is it, Professor?"

"First tell me something, Athenys. What exactly did you feel during that attack?" Lupin was looking at her intently, and Athenys looked down guiltily.

The truth was, she hadn't explained exactly in detail what happened that day. As much as she wanted to know why what happened had happened, and she perfectly well knew that the only people who would have the answer to her problem was Lupin and Dumbledore, she felt a nudge at the back of her mind, warning her not to reveal too much. It must have been her trust issues, or she was simply just scared of the truth because of the nightmares she had been having.

With a sigh, she went into detail about what she felt, "At first, I felt the cold creeping into me, and into my chest. Then everything started fading, the sounds, my eyesight, everything. And then I heard screams. Not just a few people, but as if a whole group of people were screaming."

Lupin leaned against his desk, eyes down and deep in thought for a while, and then looked back up inquiringly at her, "You didn't feel anything else, or see anything?"

She shifted slightly, and started scraping at the desk, "I felt a warmth inside my chest, as if it melted away the ice there, and it felt nice for a split second until… well-"

"Until?" Lupin raised his eyebrows, waiting for an answer.

"Until in my mind I saw the image of a dragon breathing fire, and the flames engulfed me. And then, well, I screamed."

Athenys looked up again at Lupin to see his reaction but found that his expression was hard to read. She could see that his mind was whirring, and that he was crossed between confusion and realisation.

"Interesting," Lupin said, and he didn't speak for a while.

Athenys became quite impatient, "What does it mean, Professor?"

"Professor Dumbledore and I were thinking that maybe it has something to do with a certain power inside of you, but we're not entirely sure what sort of power it is."

Athenys had the feeling that Lupin was being very careful with how much information he was giving her, which increased her irritation, but also made her quite tense.

"Power," she repeated quietly.

Lupin must have noticed the slight shake in her voice, "Yes, power. Yet we still don't know how powerful it is, whether it may harm you or help you. It's a very rare case in which a witch, especially your age, is able to scare off a dementor without a Patronus."

Athenys felt both excitement and anxiety fill up inside her. A power, a _rare_ power was inside of her. Does that explain the dreams? And how does it relate to fire and dragons. Will she be able to control this power, or will it end up controlling her? Just like the Dark Lord, will she become obsessed with power?

"You seem worried, Athenys," Lupin interrupted her train of thought.

"Yes, a little," she admitted.

"May I ask why?" Lupin asked gently.

"Well, the Dark Lord-" Athenys felt her cheeks warm up, "Sorry, You-Know-Who very powerful."

Lupin nodded, "Indeed he was. And you believe that this might cause you to become like him?"

Slowly, she nodded, "Kind of, but also, what if it controls me instead of me being able to control it. And I don't even know what this power is, or what it means."

There was a short silence, broken by Lupin, "You've heard of Merlin, yes?"

She chuckled lightly, "Of course I have, Professor."

Lupin smiled, "He was a Slytherin. He was also the founder of the 'Order of Merlin' which supports the idea that magic should not be used against muggles. He is known to be the most powerful wizard to have ever lived."

"And Dumbledore is the most powerful living wizard," Athenys said with realisation at how unnecessarily worried she was.

"Listen, Athenys," he stood up from the table and walked to the front of the room, "The act of seeking power itself does not make you a bad wizard or witch, it's how you obtain that power and what you choose to do with it that defines you as a person."

Athenys felt a warm feeling growing inside her, "Thank you Professor."

"And also, Professor Dumbledore and I will look in further to your situation."

She nodded. _So will I,_ Athenys silently thought to herself.

Lupin paced towards the trunk which held the boggart, "I guess we may begin with what may be our final lesson, then?"

Athenys held her wand ready, "Yes, Professor."

After successfully conjuring her Patronus which once again formed into a baby dragon, Athenys noticed something that Lupin seemed to not have picked up on.

The wings and tail had grown longer, the horns sharper, and the torso was stretched ever so slightly.

The dragon had grown.


	9. Crystal Balls

With Sirius Black's sudden appearance at Hogwarts, Ron Weasley had become a popular name spoken amongst everyone in the Slytherin Common room. The person who seemed most annoyed about Weasley's popularity was Draco.

"Shame, Black should have finished off Weaselbee while he had the chance. Would've been one less headache for us," he would say loudly enough for everyone to hear, while Crabbe and Goyle gave grunts of agreement. Draco's mood went further downhill after Slytherin's loss in the Quidditch final, and although no one dared to show it to his face, Athenys noticed the disapproving stares and sneers of the fellow Slytherins behind his back.

"It's a bit unfair, don't you think?" Athenys asked Daphne and Theo as they walked to Divination, "It wasn't entirely his fault."

Daphne nodded her head in agreement, "True, he almost made it, it's just that-"

"Potter's broom was faster," Theo interrupted, "You can't expect to beat a damn Firebolt. Don't think too much on it though, they'll all be begging at his feet again in a few days."

Athenys scoffed, "Pathetic, much."

"Well what else can you expect from them," Daphne rolled her eyes, "They're all exact copies of their parents, no offense Theo."

Theo shrugged, "None taken, totally agreed."

Athenys frowned, "What do you mean, exact copies?"

"As in the whole 'death staring you behind your back' thing. All these parents are like that, my father included," Theo's face darkened as he explained further, "Even back in the times when the Dark Lord was in power, they were all trying to show that each was better than the other. Even though they worked for the same man, they were all secretly looking forward to each other's downfall. The only reason everyone respects Draco so much is because his father holds a high place in the Ministry and so can be useful to any of them. Besides, after the downfall of the Dark Lord, everyone claimed that they were influenced by the Imperius Curse, but I bet you, if one day he comes back to power, they'll all go running back."

Athenys shuddered, "You really think there's a chance he'll rise again?"

They paused outside the Divination classroom as Daphne spoke, "You never know, Athenys. The rumours are popular than ever."

Apparently, Trelawney was seeing each of them separately, and Athenys was left behind with four other Slytherins while Daphne and Theo bid her goodbye after their turns to which apparently, they both completely made up what they saw in the crystal balls. Finally, her name was called and as she entered the classroom, Athenys's nostrils filled up with the all too familiar vapours of the sickly perfumes. Despite her slight distrust about whether Trelawney had a seer gift at all, Athenys couldn't help but eventually be completely engrossed by the art of Divination. Sure, in the muggle world there's talk about horoscopes and star signs, but coming from that world into the magical world, Divination was on a whole new level for her.

"Take a seat, my dear," Trelawney said in her usual misty voice, "Gaze into the orb and tell me what you see!"

"Ok, well, um…" Athenys saw nothing. Nothing at all. Gulping, she decided to make something up. Thinking about how Trelawney would absolutely love something which involved death, she squinted her eyes with fake concentration into the crystal ball, then suddenly took in a sudden gasp which caused Trelawney bump into the table with excitement. _Thank goodness for the role-playing I used to do with mother,_ Athenys thought and laughed to herself.

"What is it, my dear?" Trelawney asked with whispered excitement.

Athenys put a hand to her chest, "Oh my, it's a bundle of robes on the floor, and, oh! What is that?"

Trelawney widened her eyes, "Go on, dear, what does it show?"

Athenys cringed visibly for Trelawney to see, "I think it's a body, lying unconscious! And it's not just normal robes, Hogwarts robes! Oh wait, I think I see a face next to it!"

"Who's face, dear, who's is it?" Trelawney started scribbling furiously on the parchment in her hand.

Why on earth this woman loved death so much, Athenys honestly couldn't figure out. Thinking about it now, Athenys was weirded out by the fact that her Divination teacher got so excited by the possibility of a Hogwarts student's death. Shaking the thought out of her mind, she continued.

Her first idea was to make up some features of a random man, but then her mind drifted to a memory of a sullen face on the Daily Prophet she saw recently.

"He has dark, matted long hair surrounding a quite gaunt face. It must be-" Athenys paused dramatically, "Sirius Bl-"

But then, the clear crystal ball went cloudier, and a form emerged, _really_ emerged.

"I-" Athenys couldn't speak, she was too engulfed in the image that was forming. There were horn-like shapes forming around a face. Was it a human face? No, it can't be, it seemed to be an animal of some sort. She continued watching while holding her breath as eyes started forming, and eventually the whole head was visible. It was a dragon, a full grown one with fiery eyes that had vertical slits and a spiked head, but before Athenys could admire its beauty for long enough, the creature was engulfed in light and fell, as if it was stunned. The image swirled and disappeared, leaving a misty look on the surface.

"What happened, Miss Seraphina?" Trelawney whispered.

"It- It's gone, that's it." Athenys said softly. She looked up to see Trelawney's disappointed face.

"My, my, dear what a shame, you were so close!" Trelawney shook her head as she scribbled the last few words onto the parchment, "You may leave, dear."

Athenys said nothing as she packed her bags. Her mind was whirring, and her head was aching. The strong fumes of the room definitely did not help with it, so she left the classroom and climbed down the silver ladder as quickly as her legs would allow her to.

She initially started walking back to the common room, hoping to relieve her headache by lying down, but she needed answers. _Now._ So, she changed route and walked straight to the library and glided through the desks to the familiar isle on Magizoology.

Her fingers skimmed across the books until she came across a book titled, _Dragon Species of Great Britain and Ireland._ She immediately took it out, opened it and skimmed through the pictures of the book, yet none of the breeds shown matched the image on the crystal ball which was currently etched into her mind. Frustrated, she put the book back and pulled out _From Egg to Inferno: A Dragon-Keeper's Guide_ and skimmed through this book as well, yet to no avail. Right next to it was _Dragon Breeding for Pleasure and Profit,_ which she desperately pulled out and flipped the pages quickly, but with great concentration until half-way through the book a picture caught her eye and she almost cried out loud.

Shown in a large picture was exactly the kind of dragon she saw in the crystal ball. Although the ball didn't show much colour, the features were the same as in the book. Her eyes travelled down to the description below it in miniscule words.

' _The Hungarian Horntail is supposedly the most dangerous of all dragon breeds. It has yellow eyes with vertical pupils, black scales and is lizard-like in appearance.'_

Check, check, check. It all matched up. But why did the orb show the Hungarian Horntail?

"Dragons again, seriously?" drawled a voice behind her and she turned around to face Draco, leaning against a shelf, "Thought you would be over that by now."

Athenys sighed, and placed the book in her bag, "What are you doing here?"

"It's the _library,_ Seraphina. I can come in here anytime I want," He frowned as he looked at the book in her bag, "What's your obsession with dragons anyway?"

"I don't see why you're so annoyed by it. Dragons are fascinating creatures," she raised an eyebrow, "Plus, your name literally translates to dragon."

"And of _course,_ you know Latin," he sighed, "Such a know-it-all."

"I _don't_ know Latin," Athenys snapped, "It's quite obvious, I mean it's in our school logo _and_ it sounds almost like 'dragon'."

"Whatever, Seraphina," He put his hands in his pockets and started walking towards the exit. With his rolled-up sleeves, Athenys had a good look at his forearm to find marks of the 'injury' that Buckbeak had given him, but there was nothing. Either Madam Pomfrey had done an excellent job in healing it that there were no scars left behind, or he was being dramatic about it for the past few weeks, as he was with everything. Athenys shook her head as she smirked to herselfand thought, _Such a drama queen._

As the end of the school year approached, Athenys was thankful for the warmth that was creeping into the air, however there was still the slight chill of fear lurking around students with Sirius Black's mysterious escape once again. Nevertheless, she was surprised to find that she hadn't done as miserably as she thought for Divination. It seemed that her dramatic act had worked out pretty well.

* * *

 **A/n: Sorry about the super short chapter, and the late update! I'm trying to keep updating monthly but the writing and editing ends up taking forever. On a positive note though, that's the end of third year, and fourth year is going to be the most eventful year so far!**

 **Hope you enjoyed the chapter, and please review! I would love to know your thoughts!**


	10. Greengrass Manor

As Athenys glided through the water, she could make out the outline of her mother waving at her. She swam back up to the top, breathing in the summer air.

"You should come inside now," Helena said as she held out a towel to Athenys.

"I want to stay a little longer," she could already feel the hot air starting to hit her skin again, "It's still so _hot_."

"It's getting dark, Athenys. You also need to get ready for Diagon Alley tomorrow," Helena shook the towel at her again, and with a sigh, Athenys got out of the pool and wrapped the towel around her. She started to walk to the shower before Helena called out to her, "Oh also, you have letters! The owls came through before."

 _Forget the shower,_ Athenys thought as she ran straight to her bedroom, while Helena shouted, "ATHENYS, you're dripping everywhere!"

Smiling, Athenys quickly dried herself off before going into her bedroom to find two envelopes with wax seals containing a family crest on each of them. They were lying on her desk, with two owls standing majestically next to them, obviously waiting for replies. She picked up the envelopes and looked at the names on them. Daphne and Theo. Not that she was expecting anyone else, anyway. She opened Daphne's letter first to find her small, elegant writing inside.

 _Dear Athenys,_

 _How are your holidays going? Have you gone to Diagon Alley yet? Sorry I didn't wait to go with you, I had to go quite early about two weeks ago since my parents had to go abroad afterwards for a week. But they're back now, with great news! So, the Quidditch World Cup is happening and for the first time in thirty years it's being held in Britain! Tickets are very hard to come by, but Father managed to get some. We have extra tickets. Pansy was meant to come too, but she informed me that she's not going because she will be in Finland with her parents during the week._

 _Anyway, it's next Monday, but I was thinking maybe our house elf can come collect you this Sunday at six o'clock in the evening through Floo Network? You could stay at my place until semester begins when we go back to Hogwarts. Send a reply with my owl._

 _Love,_

 _Daphne_

Wow, the _Quidditch World Cup?_ That cannot have been easy to get tickets to. But of course, for people like the Greengrasses all it probably took was a few words. Of course, Athenys wasn't on the Quidditch team, but she had always been interested by the sport. This was not a chance to miss. She would have to ask her mother, but first she was itching to read Theo's letter as well, and so she opened the envelope to find Theo's narrow, slanted writing.

 _Dear Athenys,_

 _How have you been? You're going to Diagon Alley tomorrow morning, right? Hopefully, I'll see you there then, unless your plans have changed since your last letter. By the way, Daphne said she's going to invite you to the Quidditch World Cup. I'm going too, but please don't mind if I can't talk with you much. It's just that… Father doesn't really like me being too close with anyone who's not, you know, a 'Pureblood'. No hard feelings?_

 _Anyway, hope to see you tomorrow, or if not, at the World Cup! If not there either, then I guess on the Hogwarts Express._

 _Theo_

The first thing Athenys did was run downstairs and ask her mother for permission to go to Daphne's and the World Cup, to which thankfully, she said yes. She quickly ran back up and wrote replies to Daphne, confirming her pick-up plans and Theo, telling him that she was going to Diagon Alley tomorrow, although she doubted that the owl would get there before midnight. As soon as both owls left out of her window, she went straight to the shower and turned it to full heat.

* * *

The Greengrass's house-elf, Hooky, appeared at Athenys's fireplace at exactly six o'clock on Sunday. After bidding goodbye to her mother, Athenys was transported to the Greengrass manor, where she stepped out, coughing.

"Athenys!" Daphne rushed to her side and hugged her tightly.

Athenys tried to talk through her spluttering, "Hey, D-Daphne!"

As soon as her coughing stopped and her vision cleared, she made out three other forms in front of her.

"Athenys, I'd like you to meet my family," Daphne said as she brushed the dust off Athenys's robes, "This is my father," she pointed at a tall, blonde man with a stern-looking face who gave her a curt nod, "My mother," the short, brunette woman who had softer, kinder features smiled at her, "And you already know Astoria."

"Of course, I do," Athenys waved at Astoria who returned it with a shy smile, and gave nervous smiles to Daphne's parents, before Mrs Greengrass spoke up.

"I'll go make sure dinner is being prepared!"

"Thank you, Mrs Greengrass," Athenys replied, and Mrs Greengrass left with Hooky following closely behind her.

Athenys turned to Mr Greengrass, "Thank you for letting me stay here, and for the ticket to the World Cup, Mr Greengrass. I really appreciate it."

Mr Greengrass didn't smile, but gave another stiff nod, "Do make yourself at home, Athena," and he started to walk away.

"Actually, it's Athe-" but Mr Greengrass couldn't hear her as he had already walked away. She turned to Daphne who looked uncomfortable.

"Well, um," Daphne was wringing her hands together, "I'll show around the house!"

Athenys looked around at the manor and gulped, " _House,_ right."

The manor was nothing like anything Athenys had seen before. Everything from the doorknobs to the arches and ceilings were so ornamental. The house was dimly lit and old-fashioned, yet so breath-taking at the same time. The bedrooms themselves were twice the size of a Hogwarts classroom. There was even a separate dining hall that was probably just over half the size of the Hogwarts Great Hall, which was apparently only used when the Greengrasses held a soirée. Finally, after the 'house' tour, and a few rounds of chess – Wizard's chess, of course – with Daphne and Astoria, Athenys bid them goodnight and headed to the room Daphne had led her to.

Athenys took a deep breath as she fell onto the emerald silk sheets of her King-sized bed. No matter how breath-taking the Greengrass manor felt and how welcoming Mrs Greengrass was, Athenys couldn't help but feel a bit uncomfortable and intimidated. It could have been because of Mr Greengrass's dismissive attitude. However, it was more than that. The more time that went by and the more Athenys got to know about her Slytherin classmates, the more she felt like she didn't belong there. From what she knew, most of the Slytherins were purebloods, and were as rich as the Greengrasses, Malfoys and Parkinsons. Athenys, who was brought up in a middle-class family could not have felt more left-out when her pureblood 'friends' were blabbering about their fancy parties and soirées. For a while Athenys wondered if she was even meant to be in Slytherin. Then, the words that the sorting hat had said during her sorting resonated through her head.

" _Ambitious, very ambitious, and quite a thirst to prove yourself, I see. Clever mind for quick thinking, as well as seeking revenge on those who do you wrong. Ambition, resourcefulness, cunning, it would be no other than… SLYTHERIN!"_

Athenys rubbed her temples, _what on earth do I have to prove?_ She thought. Then, Lupin's words also started ringing in her ears.

" _The act of seeking power itself does not make you a bad wizard or witch, it's how you obtain that power and what you choose to do with it that defines you as a person."_

Power, ambition, cunning. These words were starting to tire her. She couldn't help but try to link her recurring dreams and the dementor incident last year to these words. Athenys shook the thoughts out of her head. The Greengrasses were going to wake her up very early next morning, so she needed to get some sleep. With that thought, her eyelids felt heavy and she drifted off to sleep, only to be greeted with her recurring dreams of dragons and fire, except now there were voices as well.

" _Burn them all!"_

" _I will take what is mine with Fire and Blood."_

" _Fire cannot kill a dragon."_

" _DRACARYS!"_

"Athenys!" Someone was tapping her shoulder, " _Athenys!"_

Athenys bolted upright, drowned in sweat and breathing heavily, the vivid image of flames still playing around in her mind. She rubbed her eyes and looked to her left, where Daphne was sitting, looking worried yet confused.

"What on earth was that?" Daphne asked as she stood up and handed Athenys a glass of water.

"Just… nightmares," Athenys tried to smile, "Nothing unusual."

"Right," Daphne still looked confused, "Some nightmare. Anyway, get dressed, we have to leave in an hour. I'll meet you in the entrance hall."

"Sure, see you."

"See you."

Despite still being shaken, Athenys managed to recollect herself and get ready. It only took her twenty minutes to get showered and dressed, so she started making her way to the entrance hall. As she walked through the dark hallway, she noticed a dim light coming from a door that was slightly cracked open. She knocked at it, but there was no response. As much as she felt nervous about creeping around someone else's house, she really wanted to explore the house further. Her curiosity got the better of her, so she opened the door and stepped in.

It was the smallest room of the manor she had seen so far, and the emptiest. Apart from a few trunks and some wooden wardrobes, there were a few candles floating at the corners, which meant that there must have been someone in there right before she came in. Athenys walked around the room until she reached the back wall, which she had to squint at, before she realised that it was a tapestry of a tree. A family tree, which spread across the space of the entire wall. She quickly grabbed a candle and hovered it over the branches to find small portraits with names underneath them. The majority of the surnames were Greengrass, on which Athenys also found Daphne and Astoria. It extended to Black, Parkinson and even _Potter_.

Her eyes continued to drift over the tree before a certain name caught her attention. Blishwick. _Abraxas Blishwick._ Athenys felt both confused and slightly sick. All these people were related, which meant that everyone basically married their relatives. _How romantic… gah._ She continued walking across the wall, reading the names. Sullivan Fawley, Eustace Fawley. She paused in her tracks.

Fawley.

Dominic Fawley.

She wanted to look closer at the face, but someone cleared their throat behind her. Heart hammering wildly, she blew out the candle and spun around to find the curious face of Mr Greengrass.

"Athena," he raised his eyebrows.

Athenys felt her throat dry up, "I- I wasn-"

"I see you've found our family tree." He was oddly calm, which made Athenys more nervous.

"Yeah, I, um," Athenys croaked out, "The door was open and-"

Mr Greengrass waved his hand, "It's ok. Daphne is waiting for you, we'll be leaving shortly."

"Right, I'll make my way there," Athenys put down the candle she was gripping really hard and made it halfway out of the door before she paused and turned back to Mr Greengrass."

"Oh, Mr Greengrass?"

"Yes?"

"It's Athenys. Athenys Seraphina."

"Seraphina?"

"Yes."

There was a short silence, before Mr Greengrass spoke up, "I'll meet you at the entrance hall in ten minutes, Miss _Seraphina_." Athenys could not make out his tone. His expression was blank, but his voice had a subtle curiosity to it. She made her way swiftly down the hallway and found Daphne at the entrance hall.

"You excited?" Daphne asked.

"Yes, of course!" Athenys tried to hide the annoyed tone of her voice. If only she could get close enough to see Dominic Fawley's face. She was _so close_. "Something bothering you?"

"No, not at all," Athenys nervously chuckled, "So, how are we getting there?"

"Portkey, of course."

"Portkey?" she had heard of it but never tried it before.

"Yes, father will take us to a certain object, a teapot, I think. All we have to do is touch it and next second we'll be there!"

"Is it hard?" Athenys whispered as she saw the others making their way to the hall.

"No, not at all. I mean the first time you might get a bit dizzy, but it's not that bad!"

* * *

It was bad. Unpleasant, to say the least.

Athenys had landed face-down on the grass and looked up to see a rather windswept yet still graceful looking Daphne, who helped her stand up.

"You ok?"

"Brilliant."

Daphne laughed and they all started making their way to the stadium. It was larger than any stadium she had seen before, with excited chanting and singing echoing through it. It seemed that they had arrived much later than everyone, since every row was full.

"Do we, um, have seats?" Athenys asked nervously.

"Of course! We're right next to the Minister's box," Daphne said enthusiastically, "Oh, there's Draco."

Athenys looked in the direction where Daphne was pointing, to where Draco was with his father. He was looking around the stadium, until his eyes fell upon them, and nodded, without any smile. _What is it with purebloods and nodding?_ Athenys thought, annoyed, _Maybe a hello! Or a wave is too much effort?_

They finally arrived at their seats and sat down, waiting impatiently for the match to start. Athenys looked around the stadium, and her eyes fell upon a group of redheads. It was the Weasleys, and with them was Harry and Hermione as well. She made quick eye contact with Hermione, who waved, and Athenys returned it. She continued scanning the stadium before she paused her gaze on Lucius Malfoy, who seemed to be having an intense conversation with a man who had a slight resemblance to Theo, except he was burlier and snide-looking. Athenys started looking around frantically for Theo, but was distracted by Ludo Bagman's voice, resonating throughout the stadium.

"Ladies and gentlemen… welcome! Welcome to the final of the four hundred and twenty-second Quidditch World Cup!"

 **A/n: Can't believe we've made it to ten chapters! When starting this fic I honestly thought it would only take about 7 chapters, but seems like it'll take much more, since we're still in fourth year. Anyway, thank you to everyone who is reading and reviewing! And everyone who's new to this fanfic, thanks for joining! I hope you're enjoying it so far!**

 **By the way, did anyone watch the new Crimes of Grindelwald trailer? What did you guys think of Nagini being a maledictus? (Previously being a woman) I'm pretty excited to see how it'll go. I'm also thinking of adding some elements from the Fantastic Beasts world into this fanfic, since it has some interesting details. We'll see how it goes!**


	11. Dark Marks and Dark Arts

The thrill and energy of the stadium made the hairs stand up on Athenys's neck. She couldn't help but laugh when the men of the crowd became dazed as the Veela came out onto the grounds and danced. She gasped with the crowd as the stadium was showered with gold coins and cheered along with them as the Bulgarian team and Irish team zoomed onto the pitch on their Firebolts while Victor Krum got a roar of cheers from the spectators.

Athenys couldn't feel the time fly by as she watched the players fly around in blurs of scarlet and green. It reminded her of the Quidditch matches at Hogwarts and it left a nostalgic yet excited feeling in her gut about returning to Hogwarts soon.

"IRELAND WIN!" Bagman shouted finally, and there was an uproar of the stadium as the Irish supporters screamed in delight.

The rush of excitement that was coursing through the stadium as the Golden Cup was awarded to the broadly grinning Irish team gave Athenys goose bumps. The bright light emanating from the Top Box distracted the crowd from a few figures who had started to leave the stadium, however, it wasn't enough to distract Athenys from spotting Lucius Malfoy sliding out of his seat and heading out of the stadium, leaving Draco behind. Athenys's watchful gaze followed Lucius until he was out of sight. Her gaze then turned to an unsettled-looking Draco Malfoy, whose eyes snapped to her own, and she quickly looked away. Why would Lucius Malfoy sneak out of the stadium leaving Draco by himself? And why did Draco seem so unsettled, while Lucius seemed to make his departure as quiet as possible?

"Come on," Daphne distracted Athenys from her line of thought, "We should get going."

Luckily, Athenys and the Greengrasses had exited the stadium early and managed to avoid the packed crowd that was pouring out behind them.

"Stick together, girls," Mr Greengrass called out as he ushered them quite urgently away from the stadium and campsites.

"Why is he in a rush?" Athenys whispered to Daphne.

Daphne shrugged, "I don't know, maybe to avoid getting lost in the crowd?"

Athenys looked back at the crowd, which was well far away, "Right, of course."

"Wait look, it's Draco," Daphne started waving at a figure that was leaning against a tree, and as they walked closer Athenys could make out the gleam of white-blonde hair.

"Hey, Draco!" Daphne called.

He looked almost bored, staring at his shoes until he looked up to find the source of the voice.

"What are you doing here alone?" Daphne asked.

"Oh, just waiting for Father," he replied casually.

Daphne opened her mouth to say something but Athenys cut her off.

"Oh, really? Where is he?" she asked a bit too suspiciously, and it seemed that Draco noticed.

He narrowed his eyes at her for a split second, but before Daphne could spot it his face went back to an expression of boredom, "He's attending to some business."

"Oh." She raised an eyebrow.

"I think you should go quickly," he said, looking a little impatient, "You know, because the celebrations and fireworks will get crazy soon."

"Yeah, we should go," Daphne said as she lightly tugged at Athenys's arm, "See you, Draco."

They started heading in the direction Mr Greengrass was going in, but they found it quite hard to catch up to him. He was still in such a rush, despite being well out of reach of the massive crowd. Why did Draco seem to be so impatient about trying to get them to go quickly, and why did Mr Greengrass seem to have the same idea? It seemed that they both knew something that was going on during the World Cup that everyone else in the stadium was oblivious to, and Lucius Malfoy was obviously part of it. After a few minutes of walking, they finally reached the portkey which would take them to the Greengrass Manor.

Athenys woke up to the sound of voices whispering in her room.

"It must've happened right after we left," whispered a voice which had to be Daphne's and it was followed by another voice which Athenys recognised as Astoria's.

"You didn't notice anything weird there before you left?"

"I told you, we didn't see anything. We're so lucky to have left early with our personal Portkey."

What on earth were they talking about? She opened her eyes slightly to find the Greengrass sisters at the doorway of her bedroom.

"Oh, sorry, I didn't know you were awake," Daphne said as she walked to Athenys's bed, "I was just about to wake you. Look what's in the newspaper!"

She handed Athenys the _Daily Prophet,_ which had the headline: SCENES OF TERROR AT THE QUIDDITCH WORLD CUP. Underneath there was a moving picture of what seemed like smoke which formed a skull with a snake as a tongue.

"It's the Dark Mark," Daphne said quietly, "You Know Who's mark."

Athenys looked at the paper again to read the article below it. There had been a riot of sorts. A very violent one from the sounds of it, with wizards marching around with masks and setting fires and floating people upside down.

"Oh my..." she was at a loss for words. She was glad that they had managed to leave before it all happened, but what about the other people? How many people have been hurt? What about her schoolmates and friends?

Athenys made a quick mental check to remember everyone she knew that was there. Harry, Hermione, the Weasleys, Draco…

 _Draco_.

"What about Draco? Is he okay?" Athenys asked Daphne.

"Yeah, he is," Daphne replied, "My Father contacted Mr Malfoy this morning. They managed to avoid it all."

Athenys's mind went back to the events of last night. She had a feeling that something was off, that something was about to happen. The sudden disappearance of Lucius, Draco's impatience to tell them to go and Mr Greengrass's rush all seem to add up to this. Her mind drifted again to what Theo had told her about Lucius Malfoy. He was a former Death Eater after all. Could he have been behind one of those masks? But why would Mr Greengrass know about it? _He_ wasn't a Death Eater.

Maybe a few people close to them knew about it. Theo's father may have been one of those people as well. Maybe Abraxas might have known about it as well.

What if her Father knew about it? Or even worse, what if he was behind one of those masks?

Athenys had spent her last few days at the Greengrass Manor getting everything ready for the new school year. She sent an owl to reassure her mother that everything went well with the Quidditch World Cup, leaving out the part about the Dark Mark. She crossed her fingers hoping that Abraxas wouldn't meet her soon and tell her about it. Athenys couldn't deny that her stay at the Greengrass Manor was fun, especially with Daphne. However, with their impeccable lifestyle, Athenys found it a little intimidating, and so when the first of September arrived, Athenys was thrilled to be going back to Hogwarts, her second home.

They met Theo on the train right before it left because he was late. Athenys was glad to see him, since she hadn't had the chance to see him at Diagon Alley or at the World Cup. They immediately started talking about the World Cup, and Athenys told him everything about the Malfoys and Mr Greengrass while Daphne went to look for Pansy.

"Of course, Lucius Malfoy had to be behind one of those masks," Theo whispered, despite the compartment door being shut, "My father disappeared right after the match ended as well. I had to get home by myself. He said he had some things to attend to."

"Well _they_ don't surprise me, but why did Mr Greengrass and Draco seem to know about it?"

"Well I guess Draco's father warned him to stay put and Draco knows better than to question him. As for Daphne's father, even though Mr Greengrass was never really involved in Death Eater business, he is still quite close with a few of them. Maybe he wanted to get out of there because he heard about the plan from Pansy's father."

The conversation was cut short when Pansy and Daphne walked into their compartment.

"What are you talking about?" Pansy asked while chewing on a pumpkin pasty, and she sat down next to Theo.

"The new Defence professor," Athenys said quickly, "Who do you think it'll be?"

"No idea," Pansy said dismissively, "I'm just glad that the werewolf won't be back."

Athenys looked at the floor. Werewolf or not, Lupin was an amazing professor. Who knew if they would get someone like him again?

After Dumbledore's announcement at the welcome feast in the Great Hall, the school was left buzzing about the Triwizard Tournament. No one even seemed upset about Quidditch being cancelled for the year after hearing about the Tournament, and the only conversation that was happening in the Slytherin common room was about Beauxbatons and Durmstrang or theories on what the tasks may be.

That was, until Draco was turned into a ferret by Moody. Most of the Slytherins hated that Moody took Harry's side, but Athenys couldn't be more pleased to have a new secret nickname for Draco. One that only she and Daphne knew, of course, because no matter what Theo was still one of his best mates.

Despite the great amount of dislike her classmates had towards Moody, their first Defence class with the rather frightening man seemed to give the Slytherins a change of heart about him. His lesson on the Unforgivable Curses were like nothing they ever had. Athenys had heard that Durmstrang was one of the few wizarding schools which had the Dark Arts in their curriculum, and for Hogwarts it was strictly prohibited.

"How come Dumbledore hasn't said anything to him about it though?" Athenys said as she walked with Daphne and Theo to the Great Hall after their third lesson with Moody, "Surely he would know about Moody teaching about curses?"

"You never know, maybe he has," Daphne suggested, "But he probably trusts Moody to keep it censored."

"I'm not complaining," Theo chimed in, "It's really cool to see his side of things. I mean, he's seen everything, with the War and the Dark Arts. His face says it all."

Athenys shivered as she remembered Moody's scarred face, "Yep, it definitely does. I kind of wish we could learn more about it."

Daphne frowned, "Really? I don't think Dumbledore would allow it. Even the parents wouldn't want their children to be exposed to the Dark Arts too much. I know mine wouldn't be happy."

Theo snorted, "My father would be thrilled."

Athenys cut in, "I don't know, I feel like to be able to actually fight the Dark Arts you would have to learn about them, don't you think?"

"That is true," Daphne said thoughtfully, "But you never know who may misuse the things that are taught. You know how people in our house are."

Athenys had nothing to say to that. She couldn't deny that there would be Slytherins who would be thrilled at the idea to finally learn about the Dark Arts. Not to defend against it, but to use it.


	12. Uncontrollable

Over the next few days, Athenys found that everyone, including herself, was constantly looking forward to Moody's lessons. Sure, he was absolutely terrifying, however, his lessons always had everyone on the edge of their seats. However, Divination was a different story. Even though the subject itself interested her, Professor Trelawney's depressing (and very inaccurate) predictions of her future always left her quite irritated. Every time she had the chance, Trelawney would bring up something about impending doom or destruction and it somehow always had to do with the symbol of a phoenix that the woman managed to always find in everything Athenys did, whether it was in her tea leaves or crystal balls.

Athenys walked alongside Daphne and Millicent to their next class and the excited chattering of the students instantly became hushed as they walked in. Moody was at the front moving the desks to the side of the classroom with a simple flick of his wand, and then he dimmed the light emitting from the candles.

"Settle down," Moody grumbled, "Quickly, now!" The students quickly filled up the space in between the desks.

"Now, in the last few lessons I have taught you about the three unforgivable curses. Tell me what they are, all together!"

The class mumbled their answers and none of the names of the curses were decipherable.

Moody slammed his fist on the desk and Athenys dropped her wand as he roared, "WHAT ARE THEY?"

"Imperius, Cruciatus and Killing curse!" Athenys chanted with everyone else. Moody's electric blue eye followed Athenys as she hastily bent down to pick up her wand from the floor.

"Miss Seraphina!" Moody barked from the front of the classroom, "You can be my first volunteer for today's lesson."

Athenys gulped and looked sideways with a worried expression at Daphne, who returned it. Slowly, she stood up on shaky legs and walked towards the front.

"I have spoken with Professor Dumbledore," Moody said as Athenys made her way through the students, "And he has agreed with me that it would be best to teach you lot what it feels like to have the Imperius curse placed on you."

At the sight of everyone's widened eyes, Moody continued, "It will ensure that once you enter the real world, you will know when someone is trying to gain complete control of you. Any objections?"

There was a pin drop silence, which Moody broke, "Miss Seraphina will be our first volunteer. Then afterwards the rest of you will follow."

Athenys stood next to the front desk and felt goose bumps on her forearms as she felt a chill run through her body. She tried to shake it off by focusing on the warmth emitting from the floating candle beside her.

"Ready, now?" Moody grumbled.

"Yes."

"Good," Moody said and pointed his wand at her, " _Imperio."_

Athenys instantly felt her muscles relax. The jitteriness she had before melted away and she felt like she was floating without a care in the world. Then, the distant sound of Moody's voice echoed in her brain: _Do a cartwheel._

She spread her arms and was about to spring off her legs to do a cartwheel before she suddenly stopped, when a voice spoke in her mind.

Why should I do a cartwheel?

The voice was becoming clearer, it sounded like her own.

I don't know how to do a cartwheel.

 _Just do the cartwheel,_ Moody's voice spoke again.

The voice in her head was speaking again.

I don't want to!

 _Do a cartwheel,_ Moody's voice said repeatedly, until Athenys felt her anger building up. Then, she felt a warmth spreading down her left forearm and realised all too late that her arm was on fire from the candle beside her, pulling her back to reality.

"Aguamenti!" Moody's shouted before a water spout burst out of his wand and diminished the flames on her arm.

The room had gone completely silent except for the water that was dripping from Athenys's drenched robe arm. She looked at her forearm, which was completely fine. The sleeve must have protected it. Her hand, however, was slightly pink despite it being on fire a mere ten seconds ago. She looked up at Moody who was frowning, staring at her arm, until he faced the class again.

"Mr Zabini, come here, you're next," Moody grumbled, "Seraphina, you can join the class."

"But Professor, she needs to Madam Pomfrey!" Theo argued, "Her hand-"

"Is completely fine, Mr Nott. The fire only touched her sleeve, not her hand. Now unless you would like to see your house lose 50 points, I suggest you shut it!" Theo stiffened, and Moody turned to her, "See me after class, Miss Seraphina."

Athenys nodded and moved to the back of the class. She watched as her classmates did flips and imitations of different animals until Moody dismissed the class. Theo and Daphne looked back at her worriedly, but she nodded her head to tell them that it's fine. _I'll see you later,_ she mouthed at them, and they nodded and walked out with everyone else until the only people remaining in the classroom were Professor Moody and herself.

"Miss Seraphina, take a seat," Moody pointed to a chair next to her and she sat down, "How's your arm feeling?"

Athenys rolled up her sleeve. Her forearm was fine, just like before, and the pinkish tinge on her hand had gone away, "I feel fine."

"The flames did touch you, didn't they?" Moody asked quietly.

Maybe she should just lie and say no. Would it work? It was worth the shot. She couldn't risk anyone knowing about her resistance to flames yet. People would think she was a freak. On top of that, her resistance was getting better. Soon it would be hard to keep it a secret. Could she trust Moody with this? He was an ex-auror anyway. However, what came out of her mouth was –

"No. They didn't touch me. I moved my hand away just in time, so it only touched my sleeve."

Moody shook his head, "I would have been able to say that my eyes fooled me if I had two normal eyes, Miss Seraphina, but there is no possible way that this," Moody jabbed his finger towards his electric blue eye, "Can be fooled."

Moody walked around the table to the back of the classroom, "Now, Miss Seraphina, tell me again. Were you burned by the flames? What did you feel?"

Athenys wiped her forehead with the back of her sleeve, as the room suddenly started to feel hot and stuffy. What was she supposed to say to this man? She couldn't comprehend what happened in that classroom, let alone explain it to Professor Moody.

"The flames touched me," Athenys said with a scratchy voice.

Moody nodded frantically, while keeping a composed expression, "Yet it did not burn you."

"No," she croaked, "I don't know how to explain it. I felt a warm tingling feeling but I didn't feel a burn."

"Did you perform a spell? A non-verbal one, perhaps?" Moody asked, his voice significantly calmer.

"No, I didn't. I didn't do anything. It's never happened before, although…" her voice trailed off.

Moody leaned slightly closer and tilted his head sideways, "Although?"

"There were a few times where I could somehow touch boiling water without getting hurt, or just touch really hot things that others couldn't. It wasn't really like that when I was little as much but as I grew older it happened more often. But never with actual fire."

She looked up at Moody, who was looking at the window with unfocused eyes. Should she trust this man? No matter how much of a legend he was amongst the wizarding community, Athenys couldn't help but feel conflicted about him. Everyone blames his rough nature on his experience with dark wizards and the dark arts, however he seemed to be rather infatuated with the dark arts. He didn't make it obvious, but whenever he talked about it Athenys couldn't help but notice how his tone had a praising edge to it. Her trail of thought was interrupted by Moody's rough voice.

"You have an interesting surname, don't you?"

Athenys felt her spine stiffen, "Professor?"

"Seraphina," Moody muttered, "Did your father show similar signs as you are showing now?"

She opened her mouth to tell him about her last name coming from her mother and how the name 'Targaryen' kept on coming up, however decided against telling him the latter. At the moment, she couldn't trust anyone with that information, at least not until she knew for sure what it meant herself.

"I never knew my father. My name comes from my mother."

Moody tilted his chin up and a moment of silence followed before Moody spoke up again.

"Listen here, Miss Seraphina," he spoke with a cautious voice, "You need to be very careful about how much you reveal about your little tricks."

"They aren't tricks-" Athenys felt her cheeks become hot.

"That's not the point here," Moody interrupted, sounding impatient, "A lot of those people think that your arm merely touched the candle and set you on fire, but I clearly saw that a split second before it happened that the candle's flame flare up. You may think that these little... _powers_ you have will earn you respect and praise, but it will more likely land you in hot water."

Athenys had to bite her tongue to stop herself from asking him if the hot water pun was intended. Instead, she nodded.

"You need to learn to control it," He continued, "If these powers become uncontrollable you might get a lot of people in danger, including yourself. Although," Moody pointed to her hand, "It wouldn't be a bad idea to do some research. Learn more about what you can do and why you can resist the flames. Do you understand?"

"I understand, Professor," Athenys nodded and slowly walked out of the room. Daphne and Theo were waiting for her outside.

"I swear your hand was on fire as well!" Theo exclaimed as soon as he saw her.

"How do you feel?" Daphne asked, "Do you need to go to the Hospital Wing?"

Athenys sighed, "Guys honestly, I'm fine. Only my sleeve caught on fire. I'm lucky that Moody acted so quickly."

They both still look worried and confused, and Daphne was about to open her mouth in argument but Athenys cut her off.

"Come on, let's go. I need to go to the Owlery."

"Athenys! Hurry up!" Daphne shouted over the crowd of people.

Athenys tried to catch up to Daphne but lost her in the crowd. It was the day of the First Task of the Triwizard Tournament and everyone was rushing to the stadiums to get good seats. Daphne tried to slow down for her but ended up being pushed away with the crowd. All around her she could hear excited chatters about the first task of the Triwizard Tournament. She finally managed to push out of the crowd and stood under the shade of a tree to catch her breath.

"Keen on seeing Potter chopped to pieces?" Someone drawled behind her.

She spun around and saw Draco standing there. She fought the urge to roll her eyes at him.

"Why are you taking your time getting there, then? You seem pretty keen." She started walking and Draco caught up to walk with her.

"There is no way I'll miss seeing Scar-head getting crushed. But I'll take my time. Can't stand the cheering of the bloody Gryffindors." He pulled out a green apple and took a bite, "Also, I don't need to get there early to see what the task is. Father's already told me."

"Oh, really?" Humph, Father seemed to tell him everything except about not being a prick to people.

"Oh, yes. He told me everything about the task. I can't tell you though, it would ruin the fun."

"Well I didn't ask either."

He sneered at her, then started walking faster towards the Forest.

By the time they got there the good seats were all taken, so she took a seat at the back while she spotted Draco pushing past a few first years to sit between Crabbe and Goyle.

A few minutes later the beginning of the Task was announced. It was dragons. The first task was to get past the dragon to get the golden egg. They weren't joking about the 'life threatening' part of the Tournament.

First to face the dragon was Cedric. When the Swedish Short-Snout came out the crowd immediately screamed as it breathed a wall of fire in Cedric's way. But she couldn't help but admire the beauty of them. She watched as Cedric, Fleur, and Krum each managed to get the golden egg.

Now, it was Harry's turn. The crowd hushed their cheering as a silence followed as Harry stepped out. Then, without warning the dragon appeared and screams filled the air. She sucked in her breath and stared at the beast. It was the most beautiful of them all, with its large, leathery wings which it batted with such pride, the spiked head and tail and its fiery eyes. She caught its every single movement. This was the fiercest of them all. The crowd constantly gasped and screamed as Harry dodged all the smashes of the dragon's tail and breaths of fire, until he managed to grab the golden egg and everyone cheered. However, two seconds passed before the air was filled with screams again from the opposite side of the stadium. The dragon flied down with such speed and was about to open its mouth to breathe fire onto Harry.

"STOP!" She was suddenly standing and holding her right arm out in front of her. The Horntail stopped mid-air and turned towards her, beating its wings to stay in the air. The crowd hushed, and from the corner of her eye she saw six wizards holding up their wands about to fire stunning spells at the dragon.

The air was suddenly ever so quiet, as the dragon moved towards her, so slowly. She held out one arm, and the dragon lowered its head to rest against her hand. She thought of nothing else but the big fiery eyes of the beast which she was looking into, until the stunning spells were fired again, and the beast fell with a thud, onto the ground.


	13. Fire Cannot Kill a Dragon

**A/N – Hey everyone! Hope you're all doing well! So, I'm back to writing this fic and I just wanted to start with saying I'm so sorry for the HUGE break! I've been stressed out with uni work lately and just couldn't find the time to write anything or find inspiration to keep writing. (Please don't hate me :') ) But I'm back on it now and I've written some ideas for the next few years of Athenys at Hogwarts! I just need to link it all together and keep uploading the chapters.**

 **Thank you to everyone who is still following this story, I know I'm super slow at uploading but you guys somehow find the patience to keep reading! 3 Just a few people I need to mention and thank:**

 **My best friend who harassed me to keep writing this story. Haha just kidding, she gave some awesome tips about how to find inspiration and how to keep writing.**

 **DanteVirgil09 who always reviews for every chapter I upload and gives some amazing ideas!**

 **10868letsgo, your reviews always put a smile on my face, thank you!**

 **MillieBelle who messaged me recently asking to update the story. I'm so sorry I know I took so long but thank you for being so patient!**

 **Michelle who was a guest so I couldn't reply to you privately, but thanks for reviewing!**

 **And of course, thank you to everyone else who has reviewed, favourited and followed! Hope you keep reading the story and enjoy! Let me know your thoughts of the story so far in the reviews!**

Athenys felt the hair on her neck stand, except this time it was not from the dementors. The entire stadium had gone silent. It was as if someone had pressed pause on the world with everyone's widened eyes stuck on her and the only movement that was happening was the cloud of dust that was being carried away from the dragon's fall. After what felt like minutes of staring, the crowd turned to each other and began whispering among themselves as some wizards gathered around the sleeping dragon and began to conjure up chains for it. As quickly as she could, Athenys exited the seating area and walked behind the tents where she presumed the other contestants would be. It was the only place that students were not allowed to be, which meant that it was a safe place for her. For now, at least.

"Nice handling back there."

Athenys twirled and found the face of a red-haired man with a stocky build and friendly face, "Sorry?"

"With the Horntail. She's usually a nasty one," He pointed to the two largest burns on his right arm, "These were both from her." Athenys shuddered at the view, and Charlie smiled.

"She's very beautiful," Athenys said, the tilted her head to the side, "Shame you had to knock her out."

At this, Charlie bowed his head slightly and shook his head, "It's protocol, those dragons are impossible to control. But don't worry, she'll be up anytime soon. By the way, that definitely can't be your first time encountering a dragon!"

She hesitated for a while, wondering whether she should mention Norbert, then sighed, "No, but first time with a full-grown one."

She then held out her hand, wishing to change the topic, "I'm sorry, I didn't introduce myself. I'm Athenys, Athenys Seraphina."

He smiled and shook her hand, and she noticed how calloused his hands were, "Charlie Weasley."

Athenys froze, then stammered, "Ch-Charlie Weasley? You're Ron's brother?"

Charlie chuckled, "The red hair wasn't a hint?"

Athenys mentally slapped herself in the face. She should've guessed from the same red hair, long nose and his love for dragons.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, Hagrid's told me about you,"

"Ah… Yes. Hagrid and I share a mutual love for dragons. Seems like you have joined the bandwagon."

Athenys laughed, "Yes, yes of course." Then, her eyes widened as she remembered the tiny dragon.

"How's Norbert!"

He chuckled, "I just told Hagrid about Norberta," He seemed to notice her confusion and continued, "That dragon is a female."

Athenys laughed, "I knew it! I told Hagrid back then that she was a female dragon!"

Charlie raised an eyebrow, "How did you know?"

There was a moment of silence, and Athenys broke it, "Oh, I, erm… I read it in a book and saw some pictures of differences between male and female dragons."

Charlie looked impressed, "Ah, I see. You seem to know a great deal about them. Anyway, wish I could talk for longer but I have to go to the owlery. Nice meeting you!"

"Nice meeting you too!" and Athenys watched as Charlie made his way to the castle.

For the next day and half, Athenys avoided going to the common room while there was anyone in there and instead stayed hidden in the dormitories. Of course, Pansy and the other girls kept on annoying her with question after question so she resorted to spending time at Hagrid's Hut instead. Hagrid, who was nice enough to see that she was already distressed, kept the questions to a minimum. The night after, Athenys was kneeling by the fireplace, with her eyes fixed on the crackling fire which was keeping the common room so warm. She had gone to Hagrid's hut after classes and stayed there until it was late enough for everyone to go to dinner so that she could sneak into the common room without being confronted. She realised that she was no longer alone as she heard the door to the common room open and someone walked through while swearing about something.

"…bloody newspapers and their garbage… Famous Potty can't stay one hour without having his face splashed all across the newspaper!"

It was Draco, reading the headlines of the Daily Prophet about the tournament. She figured that the newspapers must be flooded with the events of the first task and Harry Potter's triumphant win, written undoubtedly by Rita Skeeter. She could never figure out why Draco continued reading that newspaper every single day, knowing that the stories were deliberately twisted and manipulated. Her 'incident' especially caused quite the stir in the newspapers, with story after story coming out. She could also see the heading of the other side of the Daily Prophet, reading 'The Dragon Princess – To Be Feared'?

The 'fear' had gotten to most people in the other houses, with their parents sending letters to their children telling them to stay away from her. The perks of knowing Pansy was getting to hear every single gossip that was going around Hogwarts, and now, unfortunately, the biggest one was her. It was a few hours ago that she had come out from Charms class and crashed into a second year Hufflepuff girl with blonde pigtails, causing the petite girl to fall onto her back and smash her ink bottle.

 _*3 hours ago* "I'm so sorry!" She bent down to help clean up the mess and just as she looked into the little girl's face, she saw the frightened look on it. The trembling girl gave her a final petrified look before hurriedly collecting her things and running away._

 _Feared. Was that something she wanted to be? She supposed not, as she suddenly felt a rising feeling in her chest, then throat, and then felt her eyes burning with tears. It was a state she would have hated to be seen in. Wishing to avoid the humiliation, she swiftly walked towards Hagrid's hut._

*Present*

Why was Draco here? Sure, he was annoyed about the Tournament, but was that really a good enough reason to skip dinner? She was about to ask him, yet her voice died in her throat. She wasn't quite ready for the avalanche of questions he was going to throw at her in response about the dragon, so she stayed silent instead.

After a few minutes of angry pacing around the common room, Draco eventually came around to the fireplace, throwing the newspaper into the flames. He glared at her, though not noticing the redness of her eyes. He then walked off, to his dormitory she assumed, and she was once again alone. The newspaper was burning in the fire, when suddenly her eye caught the headline about 'The Dragon Princess'. All other thoughts were washed away as her curiosity crashed over her and she grasped for the newspaper in the flames. She felt the familiar tingling sensation of the flames hitting her hand.

"HEY!" Draco runs to the fireplace dropping onto his knees with a dull thud, and vigorously pulled her arm out of the flames.

" _What_ do you think you're doing? Are you trying to get yourself killed?" She saw a mixture of confusion and anger in his stormy eyes, along with the reflection of the flames dancing in his irises. His fingers were still tightly wrapped around her forearm, and after a few seconds of death staring he pulled her arm towards him, opening her clamped fist. Her palms were white as ever, with a tinge of pink. Yet, there were no signs of burns, although her hand was considerably now warmer than his.

She stared with slight amusement at his shocked expression, which was directed first at her hand, then at her face. She had heard some mysterious words in her dreams months ago, and it was a very hazy memory of a dream too, yet the words rolled off her tongue as Draco noticed her eyes slightly flashing violet.

"Fire cannot kill a dragon."

The moment was interrupted by the dungeon door opening as Daphne stepped inside with a plate of food.

"You skipped dinner, so I figured I'd bring you some food," Daphne's eyes travelled between Draco's still shocked face and Athenys, "What on earth happened?"

Draco cleared his throat, "Nothing," he mumbled, as he made his way to his dormitory.

It had been almost two weeks since Athenys had written to her mother and so she decided to write a letter, excluding everything that happened in the last few days. She re-read the letter she wrote and almost laughed at how easy and enjoyable she had made life seem in her words. Finally, she sealed the envelope and walked to the Owlery, where she attached the letter to the owl's leg and released it. The corridors would still be full of people, so she stayed a while, looking out the window, waiting for the crowd to die down so that she wouldn't have to deal with the masses of stares following her.

Just then, while she was lost in thought, the owlery door opened as a jet-black haired Gryffindor walked in with a letter in his hand. He saw Athenys, and paused in his tracks, but then after a while half smiled at her.

"Hey," she said, as she moved to let him walk through.

"Hey."

He looked from her, to his snowy white owl waiting for the letter to be tied its leg.

"She's very beautiful."

"Huh?"

"Your owl."

"What's her name?"

"Hedwig."

"Hedwig, I like that." They glance at each other and smiled, then Harry started to tie the letter to Hedwig's leg. Athenys could make out a few of the letters written on the envelope and squinted hard until she finally saw what it said.

"Who's Padfoot?"

He flinched, then rather hurriedly sent off Hedwig.

"Just a… just a friend."

She looked at him suspiciously, "Oh, right."

"Where's your letter?" He said.

"Already sent it."

"Aren't you going to go to your common room?"

"Nah, I'm going to wait for the corridors to empty a little bit. I can't deal with the stares."

"Ah, good idea."

"Slytherin instincts."

"I see. Mind if I wait here too?"

They shared grins before she said, "Absolutely fine with me."

Harry sat on the floor beside her, and an awkward silence fell between them, as Harry messed with his hair and Athenys scratches at the floor with a knut.

"Hey… Athenys."

"Yeah?"

"I just wanted to say, I know that times aren't really the best for you right now."

"Yeah, people are maybe just a little bit unhappy with me these days."

Harry nods, "Understatement of the century."

"Why, thank you," Athenys commented sarcastically, smiling.

"Anyway, I just wanted to say, I don't think you're frightening, or weird or whatever people are saying. If anything, I think it shows that you might have something special."

Athenys felt a smile crawling up on her face, "Special?"

"Well yeah, being able to calm a dragon like that, I mean, that thing tried to kill me!"

She chuckled, "Yeah, because you were trying to take its egg."

"And I managed to take it."

"Modest much."

Harry chuckled, then cleared his throat, "Point being, that I still remember what you told me in second year, about the Parseltongue incident."

Her eyes widened, "You still remember that?"

"I don't forget favours that easily, Athenys. And all I want you to know is that someday, people will notice that it was a mistake to judge you. All you have to do now, is just make sure you use your gift for the greater good."

She laughs, "Easy for you to say, Harry Potter, saviour of the wizarding world."

"Well in case you've forgotten, the entire school thinks that I cheated into the Triwizard Tournament."

"So, you didn't cheat?"

He sighs, "What point is there in telling you that I didn't-"

"I believe you," she interrupted.

There was a short silence, before he looked at her suspiciously, "I can't tell if you're being sarcastic or not."

"I know I can be a sarcastic prick at times, but this isn't one of them." They both looked at each other and chuckled.

After a while he said, "Thank you… you know, for being in the one percent that actually believes me."

"And you, for not thinking I'm a psycho or whatever. By the way, it's more like point one percent."

"No need to rub it in," he smiled, and they broke out in laughter.


	14. Only As Friends

**Welcome to another chapter! Apologies for the awkward breaks in the writing for the last few chapters, for some reason the page breaks don't appear once I post the chapters on here! Ah well. :') Anyway, this chapter is mostly about preparing for the Yule Ball and I figured that we should have a less serious chapter to lighten up the mood a little bit. Enjoy!**

The common room was full and loud with chatter when Draco entered through the dungeon door. He found it difficult to manoeuvre the crowd to the corner of the room where Theo and Blaise were seated, however managed to push away some first years to get spot on the couch next to the fireplace. The chatter about the Tournament was annoying him more than usual. Potter was supposed to be out of the Tournament by now, yet he's now almost leading the competition and the only thing making it worse was the _chatter_.

"Why the long face, Malfoy?" Theo said with a teasing smile as he moved to the seat near Draco.

"These people are irritating me," Draco drawled as he started fiddling with the family ring on his ring finger, "It's as if they don't have anything else to talk about."

"Well they don't," Blaise joked, "The Tournament is the biggest thing to have happened this year. The only thing that would make it better would be seeing that Potter turned to shreds somehow."

"Which is supposed to have happened already," Draco pointed out.

"Say Draco," Theo spoke up, "You wouldn't happen to know who put Potter's name in the Goblet, would you?"

"You can't be serious, Nott," Blaise turned to Theo with disbelief on his face, "He obviously cheated. No one did it for him, he did it himself."

"Yeah ok, but he can't have done it all by himself, could he? Dumbledore's spells are pretty powerful," Theo objected.

"Got a point there, Nott. My bet is on one of the Gryffindors."

"Or maybe it was Dumbledore himself," Draco said.

"No, no I don't think so," Theo said as both Draco and Blaise turned their heads towards him, "I don't know if Potter's the cheating type, but he looked like he was about to throw up when his name came out. There's something fishy about this whole thing. Anyway, my bet's on Karkaroff.

"You're kidding, Karkaroff would do anything to make Krum win. Adding Potter's name to that Goblet would be a horrible idea for that," Blaise said, "Come on, Nott, for a minute I thought you were going somewhere with that until you said _Karkaroff_."

"He was an ex Death-Eater wasn't he?" Theo reasoned, "He hates Potter as much as the rest of Slytherin House. This Tournament is like a death trap. Potter could have either gotten expelled for cheating or he can get killed during the Tournament. It's a win-win situation."

"But why would Karkaroff bother going into all that trouble _now_?" Blaise seemed to be getting irritated and he started talking louder, "You Know Who is long gone."

"He's not dead though, he could come back anytime," Theo seemed to be getting agitated as well.

Meanwhile, Draco continued fiddling with the ring while Theo and Blaise continued arguing. As he stared into the fireplace his mind drifted to hours ago when he was in front of the same fireplace. He remembered his heart skipping a beat when he saw Athenys plunge her hand into the fire only to pull it out to find it unscathed. The unusual words that she spoke, _Fire cannot kill a dragon._ The violet that flashed in her eyes, which he had seen before and thought that it was a trick of magic but now he wasn't so sure. There was something covert and unsettling about the way she spoke. The dragons, the fire, her eyes and even the way his father acted around her, they all had to be linked. Yet how?

"…and Malfoy and I would know about it, right Malfoy?" Theo's hushed voice came back into Draco's conscience.

"What?" Draco mumbled.

"If this Tournament had something to do with the Dark Lord or the Death Eaters, then we would know something about it," Theo said as both he and Blaise waited for Draco to respond.

"Yeah, yeah I guess," Draco frowned and stood up, "I'm going back to the dorms. See you."

He left the crowded common room as Theo and Blaise stared after him, until they went back to arguing.

It was only three in the afternoon yet Athenys felt her eyelids become heavy while staring at her Transfiguration book and was about fall asleep until Theo and Daphne walked into the common room.

"I heard the Gryffindors talking about it after potions. They've already had theirs," Athenys heard Theo say to Daphne.

"The Gryffindors had their what?" Athenys said as she wiped at her eyes.

"The Yule Ball dance lessons!" Daphne squealed, "It's going to be so fun!"

"Who else has had the lessons?" Athenys asked.

"The Ravenclaws," Daphne added, "They had Flitwick teaching them."

"Imagine that," Theo snorted.

"So it's just us and the Hufflepuffs left," Athenys chimed in, "Who do you think we'll get?"

Theo shrugged, "Dunno, which Professors do you think would know how to dance?"

Athenys laughed, "Can't decide from that, can we? I mean, who knew that McGonagall knew how to dance?"

"True," Daphne joined in the laughter, "I mean Flitwick makes sense but McGonagall, _that_ must have been entertaining."

"Do you think the Hufflepuffs would get Sprout?" Athenys questioned as she closed her Transfiguration book and set it on the side.

"Oh yeah, maybe," Daphne tapped her quill on her chin in thought, "She is the Head of Hufflepuff."

"Wait, wait," Athenys waved her hand in front of her, "All the other houses had their Heads to teach them the dances, so we'll get-"

"Bloody hell, no way in the world-" Theo interrupted, his eyes wide.

"We're going to have _Snape?_ " Daphne squeaked before bursting into laughter with Athenys. Theo's horrified expression made both girls laugh till tears formed in their eyes before Theo cracked a smile as well before joining in with them.

"Have to say though, that would be _Daily Prophet_ worthy," Theo suddenly stood up, his expression hard as he twirled his cloak and extended his hand to Daphne.

"Miss Greengrass," he spoke in deep, contained voice, "Would you care to volunteer to be my…. _Partner."_ He said the last word with an overly dramatic pause, but the impression of Snape was spot on.

Daphne wiped the tears from her eyes and tried hard to talk without laughing, "Yes, Professor, I would _love_ to volunteer."

By the time most students had cleared the common room, Athenys's stomach was hurting from laughter.

The next morning, Athenys, Theo and Daphne walked to the dungeons for their 'dancing lessons'. Despite Theo having a horrified reaction to the possibility of Snape teaching them the dances, he seemed to have a skip in his step and a tight smile playing at his lips as they headed to the classroom. As they walked into their Potions classroom, Athenys noticed that the space looked much larger, probably because the desks and chairs were cleared out, leaving a large clearing in the middle. However, to Theo's disappointment, Professor Sinistra, the Astronomy Professor was standing in the middle of the room to greet them instead of Snape.

As the days went on the homework began to pile up. Athenys found it more and more difficult to concentrate on her work with the whispers around her in the library, so she decided to go to her dormitory and study on her bed for the next few days. As dinnertime approached Athenys went into the hall early and found Theo seated at the table, twirling his spoon.

"Have you asked her yet?" Athenys asked as she sat down.

Theo froze, "What?"

"Have you asked Daphne to the Yule Ball yet?" Athenys couldn't help the amused smirk that was growing on her face while watching Theo shift uncomfortably in his chair.

"Oh, I um… I don't know if I'm going to ask her or someone else."

"Oh, please. As soon as we were told about the Yule Ball you looked straight at her," Athenys nudged him in the ribs, "Nothing goes by me, Mr Nott. Plus, you should make your move soon, Blaise seems to be interested in her as well."

"Okay, okay, I'll ask her tonight," Theo said as he tried to hide himself blushing with his hand.

However, things didn't seem to have gone to plan judging from Theo's expression as he came to breakfast the next morning.

Athenys frowned as Theo came and sat next to her, with a disgruntled look on his face.

"What happened?"

"Blaise already asked her," he huffed.

"Daphne?" Athenys asked incredulously. She thought that Daphne was waiting for Theo to ask her, she kept on hinting it whenever the topic of the ball came up.

"Who else?" Theo snapped.

Athenys raised her hands, "Well don't take it out on me!"

Theo looked back down at his porridge and stabbed the bowl with his spoon as he began to eat. After a good ten minutes of them eating their porridge in silence, Theo sighed, "Sorry."

"That's fine. Don't think about it," Athenys smiled reassuringly. Theo was always one who kept a cool head, but when something ticks him off it takes an awful lot of time for him to calm down again.

"So, um," Theo put down his spoon, "Has anyone asked you yet?"

"Nope."

"Not even a Durmstrang guy?"

" _No_."

"Huh, well they probably think you're a second year or something. You still have a baby face," he playfully poked at her cheeks.

"Wow," Athenys death stared him, while he cracked up laughing, "Thanks."

"Just kidding, just kidding." They both knew that wasn't the reason. Everyone was still shaken from the events that had taken place, and Athenys still felt the mixed glances of fear and distrust towards her way. Especially from the Beauxbatons girls.

"Really, though," Athenys sighed, "This is actually depressing."

"Right? Thought I'd be able to get someone before Crabbe, at least."

"Crabbe? Who's he going with?"

"Millicent."

" _Bulstrode?"_

"You know any other Millicent's at this school?"

"Millicent Bloody Bulstrode has a date and no one's even _considered_ asking me yet."

Theo's lips lifted up in a playful smirk, "Actually…"

Athenys raised an eyebrow as she took another spoonful of porridge.

"There is _someone_ ," Theo started twirling his spoon, while a smile was playing at his lips.

"Really? Or are you just joking?"

"No, really, there is."

"Who?"

"You wouldn't believe me."

"I don't care, who is it?"

"Goyle."

Athenys choked on her porridge, and Theo had to slap her on the back.

"Come again?"

"I overheard him telling Malfoy and Crabbe yesterday. He may or may not have a small crush on you."

He told _Malfoy?_ Of all people?

"And then?"

"That's it, really, unless you count Malfoy laughing to tears."

Athenys groaned, "There's no way this is happening."

"Well, it is. He's going to ask you to the ball."

"No. Absolutely not."

Theo shrugged, "No use telling me. In fact, tell him yourself, he's heading this way."

No. No, no, no, _NO._

She turned her head slightly towards the entrance to see Goyle heading her way. She needed a plan. Quick.

"Go to the ball with me."

" _What?"_

"Are you planning on asking anyone else?"

"Well, no, not really I mean everyone's taken."

"Then? What's the problem?"

"He's going to _strangle_ me! I told you, he might actually like you."

"I'll say that I'm the one who asked you!"

" _Athenys._ Seriously!"

"Well too bad," Athenys huffed, and they both fell silent as Goyle approached them.

"Go to the ball with me," Goyle grunted. Was it a question or command?

"Excuse me?" Athenys raised an eyebrow.

He cleared his throat, "Go to the ball…with me?"

Athenys shifted slightly in her seat and raised her chin, "Oh, um, sorry Goyle, but I'm going with Theo, here," she nodded her head towards Theo, who was looking down pretending to be busy eating.

Goyle turned to Theo, "She's going with you?"

"As friends," Theo spurted.

She rolled her eyes at him, "Yes, as _friends._ I asked him first."

"Oh," Goyle grunted. And then he left, looking completely indifferent. Theo must have been joking about the whole crush thing.

Athenys was about to tell Theo off when Draco appeared in front of them and sat down, "You two are going together?"

"As friends," Theo said again, and Athenys gave him a look as if to say, ' _Seriously?'_

She sighed, "Yes, we're going as _friends_ as Theo likes to keep reminding everyone."

Draco's expression was a cross between amusement and bewilderment, and he looked at Athenys, "You asked him?"

Athenys scoffed, "How on earth did you find that out so fast?"

"He told me just then," he drawled as he bit into an apple, "You know Goyle. I asked him a question and all he did was point at you two and groan a few words. I could figure out the rest."

Draco stood up, took another apple and left.

Athenys looked at Theo and mumbled, "Friendship goals?"

Theo chuckled, "Absolutely."


	15. Six Years Ago

**So this is a super, super short chapter, I'm sorry! I know I took ages to upload but it's finally here! This is a flashback chapter but it's very important to the future plot. I'm still working on the next chapter but I'll be done with it very soon. Enjoy!**

* _6 years ago*_

Athenys ran down the stairs, holding the small candle she had lit on fire in her hand which she was excited to show her mother. As she reached the kitchen she stopped in her tracks as she saw Abraxas in the living room, who seemed to be in an argument with Helena. She wanted to run to him but remembered that she was angry at him for not visiting her for the past three months. With a pout on her face, she hid behind the bench, listening to the heated conversation.

"For three months? He was in Albania for three months?" Helena said, "You know how much of a risk that is! Those _people_ are still there!"

"He will be heading to Russia soon, there's no need to worry, Helena," Abraxas seemed to be pleading with her.

"Abraxas, please, be honest with me. What is this 'mission' that you are on? Don't you think it's about time he came home? He's been running around the world for eight years now, for what?"

"Helena, you know I can't tell you that. It's confidential. Any kind of leak of information would be deadly, not only for us, but for Athenys especially."

"I don't understand. The Dark Lord is _gone._ There is no more threat. Please," Athenys could hear her mother's voice cracking, "Tell him to come home. Tell him, that his family needs him."

Abraxas shook his head with both sadness and frustration, "You need to understand, Helena, that we're doing this for Athenys. You don't understand it yet, but the danger is still looming. He cannot be here right now. It's too much of a risk, with both the Ministry and the Death Eaters."

Athenys almost hissed as she felt hot wax drip onto her hand but managed to silence herself. She watched as Abraxas put his gloves back on.

"You need to trust us. If everything goes to plan, we can keep Athenys away from all of this. She will be safe."

Athenys could see the sorrow in his eyes as he looked at Helena and his eyes flickered towards the kitchen but Athenys was faster. She ducked back behind the bench and heard a loud 'crack'. As she looked back towards the door, Abraxas was gone. He had left without seeing her.

"He is _not_ going to Durmstrang!" Narcisssa exclaimed in a hushed voice as she gripped the curtains and pulled them closed.

Draco pushed his ear closer to his bedroom door. He could hear his parents talking, but only faintly. He was supposed to be asleep by now since Dobby had made sure that everything was ready for bed and that Draco was tucked in bed. Yet, here he was, eavesdropping on his parents, who had just come back after visiting the Notts. It was close to one in the morning.

"You heard Nott," Lucius whispered back, "Dumbledore is getting madder and madder as time goes on. He's favoured those mudbloods all the time. Our son will have a better place in Durmstrang, where he will be respected for his name."

"Durmstrang is too far, Lucius. I will not be sending my son to a school that far away. Especially not a school which meddles with the Dark Arts!"

"That's exactly _why_ he needs to be there, Narcissa!" Lucius's voice became softer, yet he sounded more frustrated, "He cannot protect himself from the Dark Arts without knowing about the Dark Arts!"

"Oh please," Narcissa huffed, "You and I both went to Hogwarts and we managed just fine. Besides, there is no need to be learning about the Dark Arts when we're no longer threatened by it."

"How are you so naïve?" Draco heard Lucius say as he heard Lucius putting out the candles with spells, "Just because the Dark Lord is gone does not mean that the conflict is all resolved. We can hold onto the hope that there might be someone new, someone better to continue our cause. We can-"

"Stop!" Narcissa shouted, "Don't say anything else!"

"But Narci-"

"Please, Lucius," Narcissa pleaded softly, "I cannot do this anymore. There is no one else. The Dark Lord is gone. Your obsession with this… this _cause_ has sacrificed our family bond for too long and I _won't_ let it start again. We have the chance to start again, Lucius. The Ministry has pardoned us once, they won't do it again."

Lucius sighed, yet when he spoke his voice was dangerously hushed, "I'm doing this _for_ our family, Narcissa. You heard what Nott said. Dominic disappeared just as the rumours of the prophecy arose. That must mean that there is some truth to the rumours, and if they are true, then there will be a new dawn for us. We need to find out if Dominic is for or against our cause and I won't give up on that no matter what."

With that, Draco heard his father's footsteps becoming quieter as he headed towards the East wing and a little while later, Narcissa's footsteps headed the opposite way. His parents would be sleeping in separate rooms tonight as well.


	16. The Yule Ball

As the days went by, Athenys felt more and more anxious about the Yule Ball. She had sent her mother an owl about the ball a few days ago but she still had not sent a reply. Meanwhile, everyone already had their robes and dresses delivered. Theo had also been sent his robes from home. He had tried convincing everyone that he did not really care about the Yule Ball, however Athenys could tell that he was still upset about Daphne going with Blaise. He had been avoiding Blaise and every time Athenys bought up the Yule Ball he changed the topic. After a while Athenys could tell that he wasn't only upset about Daphne, but also seemed quite tense about the upcoming ball itself.

On Saturday morning, Athenys had planned to complete her Divination essay in the library and went to the Great Hall early for breakfast. As she entered, Theo was already sitting alone at the table picking at his cereal.

"Hey," Athenys said as she approached him, and he jumped a little.

"Oh, hey," Theo mumbled sleepily.

"Jumpy, much?"

"Hm."

Athenys frowned but chose to remain silent as she poured herself some cereal. Just as she was about to start eating, a barn owl flew in and landed on the table, carrying a large box attached to the owl's leg with a string. Athenys carefully untied the package from the owl and let it fly away.

"That's probably your Ball robes," Theo mumbled.

"About time, don't you think?" Athenys exclaimed excitedly as she ripped the paper off the box and opened it.

Inside, there was an envelope sitting on top of white fabric. She opened the envelope to find a letter from her mother.

 _Dear Athenys,_

 _How are things going with school and preparing for the Ball? I'm sorry it took so long for me to send the dress. It took days for me to find it. It was passed down to me from my mother and I had been waiting for the perfect moment to gift it to you. I had never gotten the chance to wear it, but it will look gorgeous on you! I hope you are able to find the appropriate jewellery to match it in time._

 _Lots of Love,_

 _Mum_

Smiling, Athenys closed the box and picked it up to take it to the common room to open it with Daphne.

"Hey, I'm gonna go open in it the common room, you wanna come and see?" Athenys asked Theo who seemed to be phased out.

"Huh? Oh, nah I think I'll stay here."

"Oh," Athenys felt her excitement die down a little, "Ok then."

As Athenys reached the common room, Daphne was about to leave it to go to breakfast. Her eyes lit up as she saw the box in her arms.

"Athenys, is that…?"

"Yep!"

"The Yule Ball dress? Finally! Let's see it! Open it up!" Daphne squealed.

"Ok, ok calm down," Athenys laughed as she opened the box and pulled out the dress. It felt heavy in her hands, and smooth as silk, yet it wasn't quite silk. Rather, it was less shiny yet more vibrant than silk and was a snow-white colour with intricate golden details on the edges.

"Go try it on!" Daphne exclaimed.

Athenys went into her dorm room and quickly tried on the dress, calling in Daphne once she was ready.

"So, how do I look?" Athenys asked as Daphne closed the dorm room door behind her.

Daphne's eyes widened, "Wow, it looks so gorgeous on you! It contrasts with your skin perfectly! Ooh, and it really brings out your eyes!"

Athenys turned around to look in the mirror. Sure enough, it fit her really well. She might need tall heels since the dress was quite long, though. The white and gold contrasted with her olive skin and the neckline extended straight across her neck, draping off her shoulders a little. The neckline had a similar golden pattern to the edges of the dress, yet larger and in a 'v' shape. The best feature about the dress that Athenys loved, however, was the cape-like fabric that was attached to the dress which draped around her arms. Despite the intricate detailing, the dress was quite simple, yet elegant.

"I love it," Athenys said as Daphne fixed the dress's hem.

"I love it too!" Daphne exclaimed, "We need to find you jewellery when we go to Hogsmeade next week!"

"I don't want too much though, just simple jewellery," Athenys replied.

"Sure, okay, we can work with that," Daphne said with a wink.

As the Hogsmeade trip approached, all Athenys could hear in the common room was about the Yule Ball. Daphne and Pansy had already gotten all of their jewellery sent from their families, all of which were family heirlooms. They had both agreed, however, to look at jewellery in Hogsmeade with Athenys. The Hogsmeade trip was tiring, with walking around to every single shop while listening to Pansy go on and on about her dress and jewellery and how well Draco and her would look together. With a belly full of butterbeer, they eventually returned to Hogwarts and the first thing Athenys did was take out her jewellery and put it beside the dress to see if they matched, which they did, thanks to Daphne's perfect selection. Smiling, she carefully folded the dress up and stored it away with her jewellery. As she walked out of the dorms and into the common room, she found Theo sitting alone by the fire with his Arithmancy book in his lap.

"Hey," Theo said as she shut the book and made room for Athenys to sit.

Athenys took the seat next to him and took the Arithmancy book, "You're looking at references already? We only got this essay yesterday."

"Thought I'd get a head start."

Athenys smiled, "Of course you did."

There was an awkward silence that followed, which Theo broke.

"I was waiting for you to get back from Hogsmeade, I actually wanted to talk to you about the Yule Ball."

"Really? I thought you were trying to avoid talking about it."

Theo sighed, "Yeah, I was, and I'm sorry. It's about taking you to the ball," Athenys frowned. Theo quickly continued seeing the look on her face.

"I felt bad, it's just that I don't want to be on Goyle's bad side. But also in the back of my mind, if-"

"Your father found out. Yeah, I guessed," Athenys said sadly, "Look, Theo, I totally understand if you want to go separately. I just thought that going as friends would be fun but if it bothers you…"

Theo shook his head, "No, no it's fine. Surprisingly, Father was alright with it. He encouraged it, in fact, which was kinda weird."

"Weird," Athenys replied quietly.

"Yeah," Theo said with a smirk, "And in that case I think it's only right for me to ask you to the ball properly without Goyle lurking around."

Being the theatrical person he was, Theo bent down on one knee and held out his left hand dramatically, "Will you, Miss Seraphina, go to the Yule Ball with me?"

"Absolutely, Mr Nott," Athenys giggled as she placed her hand in his. She couldn't be more glad to be going with Theo since she knew that they were going to have a fun night, even if they were going as friends.

The days leading up to the ball were both exciting yet nerve-wracking. Every day the girls in the dorms went to sleep late, talking about hairstyles and makeup for the ball. Daphne consistently fought with her about what would look best on her and they both finally came to a look they were both happy with. On the day of the Yule Ball, Athenys had decided to go with thin, long gold earrings and a simple gold bracelet to match the dress details. Her hair was curled and pulled back into a higher, elegant bun with some loose strands. She initially wanted to have a lower bun however Daphne insisted that the higher bun suited her more since her face more since it was quite chubby.

Daphne herself looked incredible, with a high neck burgundy dress and her hair in loose waves. As they stepped into the Great Hall, Daphne and Athenys separated their ways as Blaise came to greet Daphne and a short while after Athenys spotted Theo and waved excitedly at him.

"Bloody hell, Seraphina!" Theo exclaimed as he waved back to Athenys.

"How do I look?"

"Not… twelve?"

She hit him on the shoulder, and he laughed, "Just kidding. You look amazing."

"Are you just saying that?"

He smiled, "No, honestly, you look amazing, Athenys."

"Not so bad yourself, Theo."

Theo honestly looked like he was from a high-class family. Of course, he was from a pureblood family, but it never showed, since he always wore his hair messy and clothes were hardly ever pressed. This time, his hair was smoothed to the side yet not too slick and his dress robes were well pressed and put together perfectly.

"Wanna go finish all the pasties?" Athenys asked playfully.

"Ooh yep, before everyone gets here!" Theo whispered as they both inched towards the food platters.


End file.
